Substrate processing apparatus, processing apparatus, and method for manufacturing device

ABSTRACT

A pattern forming apparatus comprising: a rotary drum that includes a cylindrical outer circumferential surface which is curved at a predetermined radius from a predetermined center line, that rotates about the center line in a state in which a part of a sheet substrate is supported in a length direction of the sheet substrate along the outer circumferential surface; a pattern forming part that forms the pattern on the sheet substrate at a first specific position; a scale disk that is fixed to an end portion of the rotary drum in a direction in which the center line extends while being coaxial with the center line and that includes a circular scale; and a first reading mechanism that is arranged to oppose with the scale formed at the outer circumferential surface of the scale disk, that is arranged at substantially same azimuth as an azimuth.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/692,506, filed Nov. 22, 2019 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,691,027), which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/508,266, filed Jul. 10,2019 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,527,945), which is a division of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/139,708, filed Sep. 24, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,591,827), which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No.15/985,686, filed May 21, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,156,795), which isa division of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/438,579, filed Feb. 21, 2017(now U.S. Pat. No. 10,007,190), which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/387,620, filed Jan. 23, 2015 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,651,868), which is a 371 of PCT/JP2013/056443, filed Mar. 8, 2013, andclaims the benefit of Japanese Patent Applications 2012-069092 and2012-255693, filed Mar. 26, 2012 and Nov. 21, 2012, respectively, theentire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, aprocessing apparatus, and a device manufacturing method. Also, theinvention relates to a processing apparatus that processes a targetobject located on a curved surface of a cylindrical member and a devicemanufacturing method.

Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-069092,filed Mar. 26, 2012, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-255693,filed Nov. 21, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

As an exposure apparatus used in a photolithography process, exposureapparatuses are known which expose a substrate using a cylindrical orcolumnar mask as disclosed in the following patent documents (forexample, see Patent document 1, Patent document 2, and Patent document3).

An exposure apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display deviceis also known in which a cylindrical photomask having a light sourcetherein is arranged adjacent to a flexible object to be exposed (of afilm tape shape) which is wound around a rotatable feed roller and theobject to be exposed is continuously exposed by rotating the photomaskand the feed roller (for example, see Patent document 4).

Even when a substrate is exposed using a cylindrical or columnar mask aswell as a plate-like mask, it is necessary to accurately acquireposition information of patterns of the mask so as to excellently exposethe substrate with an image of the patterns of the mask. Accordingly,there is demand for a technique capable of accurately acquiring positioninformation of the cylindrical or columnar mask and accurately adjustingthe positional relationship of the mask and the substrate.

Patent document 3 and Patent document 5 disclose a configuration foracquiring position information of patterns in the circumferentialdirection of a pattern-formed surface by forming position-informationacquiring marks (such as scales and grids) in a predetermined region ofthe pattern-formed surface of a cylindrical mask with a predeterminedpositional relationship with respect to the patterns and detecting themarks with an encoder system.

RELATED ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

Patent document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, FirstPublication No. H7-153672

Patent document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, FirstPublication No. H8-213305

Patent document 4: Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application. FirstPublication No. S60-019037

Patent document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, FirstPublication No. 2008-76650

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, in the above-mentioned related art, there are the followingproblems. In general, in an encoder system for measuring a position in arotating direction of a rotary member (such as a cylindrical mask), anoptical reading head is disposed to face scales (grids) of a scale diskattached to be coaxial with a rotation axis of the rotary member. Whenthe scales of the scale disk and the reading head are relativelydisplaced in a direction having no measurement sensitivity (detectionsensitivity), for example, in a direction in which a gap between thescale disk and the reading head is changed, the cylindrical mask and asubstrate cause a relative misalignment but the encoder system cannotmeasure the misalignment. Accordingly, an error may occur in exposedpatterns.

This problem is not limited to a problem in pattern exposure, but maysimilarly occur in mark measurement for alignment or the like and mayoccur in the whole processing apparatus or inspection apparatus whichincludes an encoder system for rotation measurement so as to preciselytransport a substrate.

An object of an aspect of the invention is to provide a substrateprocessing apparatus capable of performing a highly precise process(including inspection or the like) on a substrate by measuring aposition of a mask or a substrate with high accuracy.

In Patent document 3, a substrate to which patterns of a cylindricalrotary mask are transferred is a high-rigidity substrate such as asemiconductor wafer, and the substrate is supported flat on a movablestage and is conveyed in a direction parallel to the surface of thesubstrate. When mask patterns are repeatedly and continuouslytransferred to a long flexible substrate, as described in Patentdocument 4, a substrate as an object to be processed is partially woundaround the outer circumferential surface of a rotatable feed roller,that is, a cylindrical member and exposure is performed in a state wherethe surface of the substrate is stably supported along the curvedsurface of the cylindrical member, thereby enhancing mass productivity.

In such a processing apparatus that processes a flexible object to beprocessed which is supported along the outer circumferential surface ofa cylindrical rotary member (a substrate feed roller), there is demandfor improvement in processing accuracy such as pattern transfer positionaccuracy and overlapping accuracy by accurately detecting the positionof the cylindrical member (a position in the circumferential directionof the outer circumferential surface and a position in a rotation axisdirection) and performing the processing while suppressing a calculationload.

An object of another aspect of the invention is to provide a processingapparatus and a device manufacturing method capable of determining theposition of a cylindrical member with high accuracy and processing anobject located on a curved surface of the cylindrical member whilesuppressing a calculation load.

Means for Solving the Problem

According to a first aspect of the invention, a substrate processingapparatus includes: a rotary cylindrical member that includes acylindrical supporting surface curved with a constant radius from apredetermined center line and that is configured to rotate about thecenter line while having a part of a long substrate wound around thesupporting surface in order to feed the substrate in a length directionof the substrate; a processing mechanism configured to perform apredetermined process on the substrate at a specific position in acircumferential direction of the supporting surface among a part of thesubstrate wound around the supporting surface of the rotary cylindricalmember; a scale member that is configured to rotate about the centerline along with the rotary cylindrical member so as to measure adisplacement in a circumferential direction of the supporting surface ofthe rotary cylindrical member or a displacement in a direction of thecenter line of the rotary cylindrical member and that includes a scaleportion carved in a ring shape; and a reading mechanism that is arrangedto face the scale portion, that is disposed in substantially a samedirection as the specific position when viewed from the center line, andthat is configured to read the scale portion.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a substrate processingapparatus includes: a mask supporting member configured to support amask pattern along a cylindrical surface with a constant radius from apredetermined center line and configured to be rotatable about thecenter line; an illumination system configured to irradiate a part ofthe mask pattern with illumination light for exposure at a specificposition in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical surface ofthe mask supporting member; an exposure mechanism that includes asubstrate supporting member supporting a sensitive substrate and that isconfigured to project a light beam, which is generated from a part ofthe mask pattern by irradiation of the illumination light, onto anexposing surface of the substrate in a predetermined exposure method; ascale member that is configured to rotate about the center line alongwith the mask supporting member so as to measure a displacement in acircumferential direction of the cylindrical surface of the masksupporting member or a displacement in the direction of the center lineof the mask supporting member and that includes a scale portion carvedin a ring shape; and a reading mechanism that is arranged to face thescale portion, that is disposed in substantially a same direction as thespecific position when viewed from the center line, and that isconfigured to read the scale portion.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a substrate processingapparatus includes: a rotary cylindrical member that includes acylindrical supporting surface curved with a constant radius from apredetermined center line and that is configured to be rotatable aboutthe center line; a substrate conveyance mechanism that is configured tosupport a long flexible substrate in a specific range in acircumferential direction among the supporting surface of the rotarycylindrical member and that is configured to convey the substrate in alength direction of the substrate; a pattern detecting device thatincludes a detection probe for detecting a specific pattern formeddiscretely or continuously in a length direction of the substrate on thesubstrate and that is disposed around the rotary cylindrical member soas to set a detection area of the detection probe in the specific range;a scale member configured to rotate about the center line along with therotary cylindrical member so as to measure a displacement in acircumferential direction of the supporting surface of the rotarycylindrical member or a displacement in the direction of the center lineof the rotary cylindrical member and that includes a scale portioncarved in a ring shape; and a reading mechanism that is arranged to facethe scale portion, that is disposed in substantially a same direction asthe detection area when viewed from the center line, and that isconfigured to read the scale portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a processing apparatusincludes: a cylindrical member that includes a curved surface curvedwith a constant radius from a predetermined axis and that is configuredto rotate about the predetermined axis; a readable scale portion that isdisposed in a ring shape along a circumferential direction in which thecylindrical member rotates and that is configured to rotate about theaxis along with the cylindrical member; a processing part that isdisposed around or inside of the cylindrical member when viewed from adirection of the axis and that is configured to process an objectlocated on the curved surface at a specific position in thecircumferential direction; a first reading device that is disposedaround the scale portion when viewed from a direction of the axis, thatis disposed at a position obtained by rotating the specific position bysubstantially 90 degrees about the axis, and that is configured to readthe scale portion; and a second reading device that is disposed aroundthe cylindrical member when viewed from a direction of the axis and thatis configured to read the scale portion at the specific position.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a processing apparatusincludes: a cylindrical member that includes a curved surface curvedwith a constant radius from a predetermined axis and that is configuredto rotate about the predetermined axis; a readable scale portion that isdisposed in a ring shape along a circumferential direction in which thecylindrical member rotates and that is configured to rotate about theaxis along with the cylindrical member; a processing part that isdisposed around or inside of the cylindrical member when viewed from adirection of the axis and that is configured to process an objectlocated on the curved surface at the specific position in thecircumferential direction; a first reading device that is disposedaround the scale portion when viewed from a direction of the axis, thatis disposed at a position obtained by rotating the specific position bysubstantially 90 degrees about the axis, and that is configured to readthe scale portion; a second reading device that is disposed around thescale portion when viewed from a direction of the axis, that is disposedat a position different in the circumferential direction from the firstreading device, and that is configured to read the scale portion; and athird reading device that is disposed around the scale portion whenviewed from a direction of the axis, that is disposed at a positiondifferent in the circumferential direction from the first reading deviceand the second reading device, and that is configured to read the scaleportion.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, a device manufacturingmethod includes: exposing the substrate with a pattern or projecting animage of the mask pattern onto a substrate by exposure using theprocessing apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect of theinvention.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, a processing apparatusconfigured to transfer a device pattern onto a long flexible sheetsubstrate while feeding the sheet substrate in a length directionthereof, the processing apparatus includes: a rotary cylindrical bodythat includes a cylindrical outer circumferential surface with aconstant radius from a predetermined axis line and that is configured torotate about the axis line while supporting the sheet substrate at apart of the outer circumferential surface; a transfer processing partconfigured to transfer the pattern onto the sheet substrate at aspecific position in a circumferential direction of the outercircumferential surface of the rotary cylindrical body supporting thesheet substrate; a scale portion that is configured to be rotatableabout the axis line along with the rotary cylindrical body and thatincludes a readable scale arranged in a ring shape along acircumferential direction with a predetermined radius from the axisline; and a plurality of encoder head parts that are disposed at two ormore positions around the scale portion so as to read the scale whichmoves in a circumferential direction with the rotation of the rotarycylindrical body, wherein each of two specific encoder head parts out ofthe plurality of encoder head parts is set so that a reading position ofthe scale viewed from a direction of the axis line is within an anglerange of 90±5.8 degrees.

Advantage of the Invention

In the aspects of the invention, it is possible to process a substratewith high accuracy by detecting a target position with high accuracy.

According to another aspect of the invention, in the processingapparatus and the device manufacturing method, it is possible to detecta position of a cylindrical member with high accuracy while suppressinga calculation load and to process an object located on a curved surfaceof a cylindrical member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a device manufacturingsystem.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of a processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement of illumination areas andprojection areas in the exposure apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a projection opticalsystem applied to the exposure apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a rotary drum.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a scale disk according to a secondembodiment when viewed in a rotation center line direction.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a rotary drum according to a thirdembodiment.

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing the rotary drum according to the thirdembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a rotary drumaccording to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the rotary drum.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of a processingapparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a detailed diagram showing a part of a first drum memberincluding a scale portion.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a speedmeasuring device.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a device manufacturing method accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a reading mechanism according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a reading mechanism according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a reading mechanism according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram schematically showing an entire configuration of aprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a seventhembodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically showing an arrangement ofillumination areas and projection areas in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of aprojection optical system applied to the processing apparatus (exposureapparatus) shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a rotary drum applied to the processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a detectionprobe and a reading device applied to the processing apparatus (exposureapparatus) shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a position of the reading device when ascale disk is viewed in the rotation center line direction according tothe seventh embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a displacement of the rotary drum when thescale disk is viewed in the direction of the rotation center lineaccording to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of calculating the displacementof the rotary drum when the scale disk is viewed in the direction of therotation center line according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow ofcorrecting a process of the processing apparatus (exposure apparatus)according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing another example of the process flow ofcorrecting a process of the processing apparatus (exposure apparatus)according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a position of the reading device when ascale disk is viewed in the rotation center line direction according toa modification example of the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a position of a reading device when a scaledisk is viewed in the rotation center line direction according to aneight embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a roundness adjusting device that adjustsroundness of a scale member.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a position of a reading device when a scaledisk is viewed in the rotation center line direction according to aninth embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a position of a reading unit when a scaledisk is viewed in the rotation center line direction according to theninth embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a diagram schematically showing the entire configuration of aprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a tenthembodiment.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing a position of a reading device when a scaledisk is viewed in the rotation center line direction according to thetenth embodiment.

FIG. 34 is a diagram schematically showing the entire configuration of aprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to an eleventhembodiment.

FIG. 35 is a diagram schematically showing the entire configuration of aprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a twelfthembodiment.

FIG. 36 is a perspective view showing a partial configuration of theprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) shown in FIG. 35.

FIG. 37 is a perspective view showing an example of a configuration andan arrangement of an encoder head.

FIG. 38 is a diagram schematically showing the entire configuration of aprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a thirteenthembodiment.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing a device manufacturing method using theprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to the seventhembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus according to a firstembodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1to 5. In the below description, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system isset up and positional relationships of respective elements will bedescribed with reference to the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system. Forexample, a predetermined direction in a horizontal plane is defined asan X-axis direction, a direction perpendicular to the X-axis directionin the horizontal plane is defined as a Y-axis direction, and thedirection (that is, vertical direction) perpendicular to the X-axisdirection and the Y-axis direction is defined as a Z-axis direction.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a partial configuration of a devicemanufacturing system (flexible display manufacturing line) SYS accordingto this embodiment. Here, for example, a flexible substrate P (such as asheet or a film) drawn out from a feed roll FR1 sequentially passesthrough n processing apparatuses U1, U2, U3, U4, U5, . . . , Un and iswound around a collection roll FR2. An upper-level controller CONTcollectively controls the processing apparatuses U1 to Un constitutingthe manufacturing line.

In FIG. 1, the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set so that a frontsurface (or a rear surface) of the substrate P is perpendicular to theXZ plane and the width direction perpendicular to the conveyancedirection (length direction) of the substrate P is set as the Y-axisdirection. The substrate P may have the front surface reformed andactivated in advance by a predetermined pre-process or may have a minutepartition structure (uneven structure) for accurate patterning formed onthe front surface.

The substrate P wound around the feed roll FR1 is drawn out and conveyedto the processing apparatus U1 by a nipping driving roller DR1, and thesubstrate is servo-controlled by an edge position controller EPC1 sothat the center in the Y-axis direction (width direction) of thesubstrate P is in a range of ±dozen μm to several tens of μm withrespect to a target position.

The processing apparatus U1 is a coater that continuously or selectivelycoats the surface of the substrate P with a photosensitive functionalliquid (such as a photo resist, a photosensitive silane couplingmaterial, or a UV-curable resin liquid) in the conveyance direction(length direction) of the substrate P using a printing method. Theinside of the processing apparatus U1 is provided with a cylinder rollerDR2 around which the substrate P is wound, a coating mechanism Gp1including a coating roller configured to uniformly coat the surface ofthe substrate P with the photosensitive functional liquid, or the likeon the cylinder roller DR2, and a drying mechanism GP2 configured toremove solvent or water included in the photosensitive functional liquidapplied to the substrate P.

The processing apparatus U2 is a heater that heats the substrate Pconveyed from the processing apparatus U1 to a predetermined temperature(for example, several tens of ° C. to about 120° C.) to stably bond aphotosensitive functional layer formed on the surface thereof. Theinside of the processing apparatus U2 is provided with a plurality ofrollers and an air-turn bar configured to turn and convey the substrateP, a heating chamber part HA1 for heating the conveyed substrate P, acooling chamber part HA2 for lowering the temperature of the heatedsubstrate P so as to match the ambient temperature of a subsequentprocess (processing apparatus U3), and a nipping driving roller DR3.

The processing apparatus U3 as a substrate processing apparatus is anexposure apparatus that irradiates the photosensitive functional layer(sensitive substrate) of the substrate P conveyed from the processingapparatus U2 with UV patterning light corresponding to a circuit patternor an interconnection pattern for a display. The inside of theprocessing apparatus U3 is provided with an edge position controller EPCthat controls the center in the Y-axis direction (width direction) ofthe substrate P to a predetermined position, a nipping driving rollerDR4, a rotary drum DR (substrate supporting member) that has thesubstrate P partially wound thereon with a predetermined tension andthat supports a part on the substrate P to be patterned and exposed inthe same cylindrical surface shape, and two sets of driving rollers DR6and DR7 that gives predetermined looseness (margin) DL to the substrateP.

The inside of the processing apparatus U3 is provided with atransmissive cylindrical mask DM, an illumination mechanism IU(illumination system) that is disposed in the cylindrical mask DM andthat illuminates a mask pattern formed on the outer circumferentialsurface of the cylindrical mask DM, a projection optical system PL(exposure mechanism) that projects an image of a part of the maskpattern of the cylindrical mask DM onto a part of the substrate Psupported in the cylindrical surface shape by the rotary drum DR, andalignment microscopes AM1, AM2 (the detection probe, the patterndetecting device) that detect an alignment mark (specific pattern) orthe like formed in advance on the substrate P so as to relatively alignthe substrate P with the projected image of a part of the mask pattern.

A detailed configuration of the processing apparatus U3 will bedescribed later.

The processing apparatus U4 is a wet processing apparatus that performsa wet development process, an electroless plating process, and the likeon the photosensitive functional layer of the substrate P conveyed fromthe processing apparatus U3. The inside of the processing apparatus U4is provided with three processing baths BT1, BT2, and BT3 layered in theZ-axis direction, a plurality of rollers configured to bend and conveythe substrate P, and a nipping driving roller DR8.

The processing apparatus U5 is a heating and drying apparatus thatadjusts the water content of the substrate P wetted through the wetprocess to a predetermined value by heating the substrate P conveyedfrom the processing apparatus U4 and details thereof will not bedescribed. Thereafter, the substrate P passing through severalprocessing apparatuses and passing through the final processingapparatus Un in a series of processes is wound around the collectionroll FR2 via the nipping drive roller DR1. At the time of winding, therelative position in the Y-axis direction of the driving roller DR1 andthe collection roll FR2 is sequentially corrected and controlled by anedge position controller EPC2 so that the center in the Y-axis direction(width direction) of the substrate P or the substrate end in the Y-axisdirection does not scatter in the Y-axis direction.

Examples of the substrate P used in this embodiment include a resin filmand a foil formed of metal or alloy such as stainless steel. Forexample, the material of the resin film includes one or two or more ofpolyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, polyester resin, vinylethylenecopolymer resin, polyvinvl chloride resin, cellulose resin, polyamideresin, polyimide resin, polycarbonate resin, polystyrene resin, andvinyl acetate resin.

It is preferable that a substrate having a thermal expansion coefficientwhich is not excessively large is selected as the substrate P so as tosubstantially ignore deformation due to heat applied in variousprocessing steps. The thermal expansion coefficient may be set to besmaller than a threshold value based on process temperatures or thelike, for example, by mixing inorganic filler into a resin film.Examples of the inorganic filler include titanium oxide, zinc oxide,alumina, and silicon oxide. The substrate P may be a single-layeredmember of ultrathin glass with a thickness of about 100 μm manufacturedusing a float process or the like or may be a multi-layered memberformed by bonding the aforementioned resin film, the foil, or the liketo the ultrathin glass. The substrate P may have the surface thereofreformed and activated in advance by a predetermined pre-process or mayhave a minute partition structure (uneven structure) for accuratepatterning formed on the surface.

The device manufacturing system SYS according to this embodiment is aso-called roll-to-roll system that continuously performs variousprocesses for manufacturing one device on the substrate P. The substrateP subjected to various processes is diced for each device (for example,a display panel of an EL display) and is divided into plurality ofdevices. The size of the substrate P is, for example, about 10 cm to 2 min the width direction (the Y-axis direction as a short side) and is 10m or more in the length direction (the X-axis direction as a long side).The size in the width direction (the Y-axis direction as a short side)of the substrate P may be 10 cm or less or may be 2 m or more. The sizein the length direction (the X-axis direction as a long side) of thesubstrate P may be 10 m or less.

The configuration of the processing apparatus U3 according to thisembodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. FIG.2 is a diagram showing the entire configuration of the processingapparatus U3 according to this embodiment. The processing apparatus U3shown in FIG. 2 includes an exposure apparatus (processing mechanism) EXthat performs an exposure process and at least a part of the conveyingdevice 9 (substrate conveying device).

The exposure apparatus EX according to this embodiment is a so-calledscanning exposure apparatus and projects an image of a pattern formed onthe cylindrical mask DM onto the substrate P through a projectionoptical system PL (PL1 to PL6) with an equal projection magnification(×1) while synchronizing the feeding of the substrate P (convey of thesubstrate P) with the rotation of the cylindrical mask DM. In FIGS. 2 to5, the Y-axis of the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set to beparallel to the rotation center line AX1 of the cylindrical mask DM andthe X-axis is set to the scanning exposure direction, that is, theconveyance direction of the substrate P at an exposure position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the exposure apparatus EX includes a mask supportingdevice 12 (mask supporting member), an illumination mechanism IU, aprojection optical system PL, and a controller 14 (substrate conveyancemechanism). The processing apparatus U3 rotationally moves thecylindrical mask DM supported by the mask supporting device 12 andconveys the substrate P through the use of the conveying device 9(substrate conveyance mechanism). The illumination mechanism IUilluminates a part of the (illumination area IR) of the cylindrical maskDM supported by the mask supporting device 12 with an illumination lightbeam EL1 with uniform brightness. The projection optical system PLprojects an image of a pattern in the illumination area IR on thecylindrical mask DM onto a part (projection area PA) of the substrate Pconveyed by the conveying device 9. The position on the cylindrical maskDM at which the illumination area IR is located is changed with themovement of the cylindrical mask DM. A position on the substrate P whichis located at the projection area PA is changed in accordance with themovement of the substrate P and thus an image of a predetermined pattern(mask pattern) on the cylindrical mask DM is projected onto thesubstrate P. The controller 14 controls each parts of the exposureapparatus EX so as to cause the each parts to perform processes. In thisembodiment, the controller 14 controls at least a part of the conveyingdevice 9.

The controller 14 may be a part or the whole part of the upper-levelcontroller CONT of the device manufacturing system SYS. The controller14 may be a device which is controlled by the upper-level controllerCONT and which is other than the upper-level controller CONT. Thecontroller 14 includes, for example, a computer system. The computersystem includes, for example, a CPU, various memories, an OS, andhardware such as peripherals. The operations of the each part of theprocessing apparatus U3 are stored in the form of a program in acomputer-readable recording medium, and various processes are performedby causing the computer system to read and execute the program. Thecomputer system includes a homepage providing environment (or a displayenvironment) when it can access the Internet or an intranet system.Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include portablemediums such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and aCD-ROM and a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computersystem. The computer-readable recording medium may include a medium thatdynamically holds a program for a short time, like a communication linewhen the program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or acommunication circuit such as a telephone line, and a medium that holdsa program for a predetermined time, like a volatile memory in a computersystem serving as a server or a client in that case. The program may beconfigured to realize a part of the above-mentioned functions of theprocessing apparatus U3 or may be configured to realize theabove-mentioned functions of the processing apparatus U3 by combinationwith a program recorded in advance in a computer system. The upper-levelcontroller CONT can be embodied using a computer system, similarly tothe controller 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mask supporting device 12 includes a first drummember 21 (mask supporting member) supporting the cylindrical mask DM, aguide roller 23 supporting the first drum member 21, a driving roller 24driving the first drum member 21, a first detector 25 detecting theposition of the first drum member 21, and a first driving part 26.

The first drum member 21 forms a first surface P1 on which theillumination area IR is located on the cylindrical mask DM. In thisembodiment, the first surface P1 includes a surface (hereinafter,referred to as cylindrical surface) which is obtained by rotating asegment (generating line) about an axis (first center line AX1) parallelto the segment. The cylindrical surface is, for example, an outercircumferential surface of a cylinder or an outer circumferentialsurface of a column. The first drum member 21 is formed of, for example,glass or quartz and has a cylindrical shape with a constant thickness,and the outer circumferential surface (cylindrical surface) thereofforms the first surface P1. That is, in this embodiment, theillumination area IR on the cylindrical mask DM is curved in acylindrical surface shape having a constant radius r1 from the rotationcenter line AX1.

The cylindrical mask DM is formed as, for example, a transmissive planarsheet mask in which a pattern is formed as a light-shielding layer ofchromium or the like, on one surface of a strip-shaped ultrathin glassplate with good flatness (for example, with a thickness of 100 μm to 500μm), is curved along the outer circumferential surface of the first drummember 21, and is used in a state where the sheet mask is wound around(attached to) the outer circumferential surface. The cylindrical mask DMhas a non-pattern-formed area in which no pattern is formed and isattached to the first drum member 21 in the non-pattern-formed area. Thecylindrical mask DM can be released from the first drum member 21.

Instead of forming the cylindrical mask DM out of an ultrathin glassplate and winding the cylindrical mask DM around the first drum member21 formed of a transparent cylindrical base material, a mask pattern maybe directly drawn and formed on the outer circumferential surface of thefirst drum member 21 formed of a transparent cylindrical base materialby using a light-shielding layer of chromium or the like, therebyforming the mask pattern integrally with the outer circumferentialsurface. In this case, the first drum member 21 serves as a supportingmember of the pattern of the cylindrical mask DM.

The first detector 25 optically detects the rotational position of thefirst drum member 21 and is constituted, for example, by a rotaryencoder. The first detector 25 supplies the controller 14 withinformation (a two-phase signal or the like from the encoder head)indicating the detected rotational position of the first drum member 21.The first driving part 26 including an actuator such as an electricmotor adjusts a torque for rotating the driving roller 24 in response toa control signal supplied from the controller 14. The controller 14controls the rotational position of the first drum member 21 bycontrolling the first driving part 26 on the basis of the detectionresult from the first detector 25. In other words, the controller 14controls one or both of the rotational position and the rotation speedof the cylindrical mask DM supported by the first drum member 21.

The conveying device 9 includes a driving roller DR4, a first guidingmember 31, a rotary drum DR forming a second surface p2 on which theprojection area PA on the substrate P is located, a second guidingmember 33, driving rollers DR6 and DR7 (see FIG. 1), a second detector35, and a second driving part 36.

In this embodiment, the substrate P conveyed to the driving roller DR4from the upstream side of the conveying path is conveyed to the firstguiding member 31 via the driving roller DR4. The substrate P passingthrough the first guiding member 31 is supported by the surface of acylindrical or columnar rotary drum DR with a radius of r2 and isconveyed to the second guiding member 33. The substrate P passingthrough the second guiding member 33 is conveyed to the downstream sideof the conveying path via the driving rollers DR6 and DR7. The rotationcenter line AX2 of the rotary drum DR and the rotation center lines ofthe driving rollers DR4, DR6, and DR7 are set to be parallel with theY-axis.

The first guiding member 31 and the second guiding member 33 adjust atension or the like acting on the substrate P in the conveying path, forexample, by moving in a direction intersecting the width direction ofthe substrate P (by moving in the XZ plane in FIG. 2). The first guidingmember 31 (and the driving roller DR4) and the second guiding member 33(and the driving rollers DR6 and DR7) are configured, for example, to bemovable in the width direction (the Y-axis direction) of the substrate Pand thus can adjust the position in the Y-axis direction of thesubstrate P wound around the outer circumferential surface of the rotarydrum DR and the like. The conveying device 9 only has to convey thesubstrate P along the projection area PA of the projection opticalsystem PL and the configuration thereof can be appropriately changed.

The rotary drum (the rotary cylindrical member, the substrate supportingmember) DR forms the second surface (supporting surface) p2 supporting apart of the projection area PA on the substrate P onto which animage-forming light beam from the projection optical system PL isprojected in a circular arc shape (cylindrical shape). In thisembodiment, the rotary drum DR is a part of the conveying device 9 andalso serves as a supporting member (substrate stage) supporting thesubstrate P (exposing surface) as an object to be exposed. That is, therotary drum DR may be a part of the exposure apparatus EX. The rotarydrum DR is rotatable about the rotation center line AX2 (hereinafter,referred to as second center line AX2), the substrate P is curved in acylindrical surface shape along the outer circumferential surface(cylindrical surface) on the rotary drum DR, and the projection area PAis located in a part of the curved portion.

In this embodiment, the rotary drum DR rotates with a torque suppliedfrom the second driving part 36 including an actuator such as anelectric motor. The second detector 35 is constituted, for example, by arotary encoder and optically detects the rotational position of therotary drum DR. The second detector 35 supplies information (forexample, a two-phase signal from the encoder head) indicating thedetected rotational position of the rotary drum DR to the controller 14.The second driving part 36 adjusts the torque for rotating the rotarydrum DR in response to a control signal supplied from the controller 14.The controller 14 controls the rotational position of the rotary drum DRby controlling the second driving part 36 on the basis of the detectionresult from the second detector 35, and synchronously moves(synchronously rotates) the first drum member 21 (the cylindrical maskDM) and the rotary drum DR. A detailed configuration of the seconddetector 35 will be described later.

The exposure apparatus EX of this embodiment is an exposure apparatus onwhich a so-called multi-lens type projection optical system is assumedto be mounted. The projection optical system PL includes a plurality ofprojection modules that project an image of a part of the pattern on thecylindrical mask DM. For example, in FIG. 2, three projection modules(projection optical systems) PL1, PL3, and PL5 are arranged at constantintervals in the Y-axis direction on the left side of the center planeP3 and three projection modules (projection optical systems) PL2, PL4,and PL6 are arranged at constant intervals in the Y-axis direction onthe right side of the center plane P3.

In such multi-lens type exposure apparatus EX, the entire image of adesired pattern is projected by overlapping the ends in the Y-axisdirection of the areas (projection areas PA1 to PA6) exposed by theplurality of projection modules PL1 to PL6 with each other. In suchexposure apparatus EX, even when the size in the Y-axis direction of apattern on the cylindrical mask DM increases and a substrate P with alarge width in the Y-axis direction needs to be essentially handled, theprojection modules PA and the modules on the illumination mechanism IUside corresponding to the projection modules PA only have to beadditionally provided in the Y-axis direction and thus there is a meritthat it is possible to easily cope with an increase in size of a panel(the width of the substrate P).

The exposure apparatus EX may not be a multi-lens type. For example,when the size in the width direction of the substrate P is small to acertain degree, the exposure apparatus EX may project an image of theentire width of the pattern onto the substrate P using a singleprojection module. Each of the plurality of projection modules PL1 toPL6 may project a pattern corresponding to one device. That is, theexposure apparatus EX may project a plurality of device patterns inparallel using the plurality of projection modules.

The illumination mechanism IU of this embodiment includes a light sourcedevice (not shown) and an illumination optical system. The illuminationoptical system includes a plurality (for example, six) of illuminationmodules IL arranged in the Y-axis direction to correspond to theplurality of projection modules PL1 to PL6. The light source deviceincludes a lamp light source such as a mercury lamp or a solid lightsource such as a laser diode and a light-emitting diode (LED).

Examples of illumination light emitted from the light source deviceincludes bright rays (a g ray, an h ray, an i ray) emitted from a lamplight source, far-ultraviolet light (DUV light) such as a KrF excimerlaser beam (with a wavelength of 248 nm), and an ArF excimer laser beam(with a wavelength of 193 nm). The illumination light emitted from thelight source device is uniformized in illuminance distribution and isdistributed to a plurality of illumination modules IL via a light guidemember such as an optical fiber.

Each of the plurality of illumination modules IL includes plurality ofoptical members such as lenses. In this embodiment, light emitted fromthe light source device and passing through any of the plurality ofillumination modules IL is referred to as an illumination light beamEL1. Each of the plurality of illumination modules IL includes, forexample, an integrator optical system, a rod lens, and a fly-eye lensand illuminates the illumination areas IR with the illumination lightbeam EL1 with a uniform illuminance distribution. In this embodiment,the plurality of illumination modules IL is arranged inside thecylindrical mask DM. Each of the plurality of illumination modules ILilluminates the corresponding illumination area IR of the mask patternformed on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical mask DMfrom the inside of the cylindrical mask DM.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement of the illumination areas IRand the projection areas PA in this embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a plan view(the left view in FIG. 3) when the illumination areas IR on thecylindrical mask DM disposed in the first drum member 21 is viewed fromthe −Z-axis side and a plan view (the right view in FIG. 3) when theprojection areas PA on the substrate P disposed on the rotary drum DRare viewed from the +Z-axis side. Reference sign Xs in FIG. 3 representsthe moving direction (rotating direction) of the first drum member 21 orthe rotary drum DR.

The plurality of illumination modules IL illuminate the firstillumination area IR1 to the sixth illumination area IR6 on thecylindrical mask DM, respectively. For example, the first illuminationmodule IL illuminates the first illumination area IR1 and the secondillumination module IL illuminates the second illumination area IR2.

The first illumination area IR1 in this embodiment is defined as atrapezoidal area which is thin and long in the Y-axis direction.However, in a projection optical system having a configuration forforming an intermediate image plane like a projection optical system(projection module) PL to be described below, since a field diaphragmplate having a trapezoidal opening can be disposed at the position ofthe intermediate image plane, the illumination area may be a rectangulararea including the trapezoidal opening. The third illumination area IR3and the fifth illumination area IR5 are areas having the same shape asthe first illumination area IR1 and are arranged at constant intervalsin the Y-axis direction. The second illumination area IR2 is atrapezoidal (or rectangular) area which is symmetric about the centerplane P3 with the first illumination area IR1. The fourth illuminationarea IR4 and the sixth illumination area IR6 are areas having the secondillumination area IR2 and are arranged at constant intervals in theY-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first illumination area IR1 to the sixthillumination area IR6 are arranged so that triangular parts of obliqueside parts of the neighboring trapezoidal areas overlap with each otherwhen viewed in the circumferential direction of the first surface P1.Accordingly, for example, a first area A1 on the cylindrical mask DMpassing through the first illumination area IR1 with the rotation of thefirst drum member 21 partially overlaps with a second area A2 on thecylindrical mask DM passing through the second illumination area IR2with the rotation of the first drum member 21.

In this embodiment, the cylindrical mask DM includes a pattern-formedarea A3 in which a pattern is formed and a non-pattern-formed area A4 inwhich a pattern is not formed. The non-pattern-formed area A4 isarranged to surround the pattern-formed area A3 in a frame shape and hasa characteristic blocking an illumination light beam EL1. Thepattern-formed area A3 of the cylindrical mask DM moves in the directionXs with the rotation of the first drum member 21 and the partial areasin the Y-axis direction in the pattern-formed area A3 pass through anyof the first illumination area IR1 to the sixth illumination area IR6.In other words, the first illumination area IR1 to the sixthillumination area IR6 are arranged to cover the entire width in theY-axis direction of the pattern-formed area A3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of projection modules PL1 to PL6arranged in the Y-axis direction correspond to the first to sixthillumination modules IL in a one-to-one correspondence manner. An imageof a partial pattern of the cylindrical mask DM appearing in theillumination area IR illuminated by the corresponding illuminationmodule IL is projected onto the corresponding projection area PA on thesubstrate P.

For example, the first projection module PL1 corresponds to the firstillumination module IL and projects an image of a pattern of thecylindrical mask DM in the first illumination area IR1 (see FIG. 3)illuminated by the first illumination module IL onto the firstprojection area PA1 on the substrate P. The third projection module PL3and the fifth projection module PL5 correspond to the third illuminationmodule IL and the fifth illumination module IL, respectively. The thirdprojection module PL3 and the fifth projection module PL5 are arrangedat positions overlapping with the first projection module PL1 whenviewed in the Y-axis direction.

The second projection module PL2 corresponds to the second illuminationmodule IL and projects an image of a pattern of the cylindrical mask DMin the second illumination area IR2 (see FIG. 3) illuminated by thesecond illumination module IL onto the second projection area PA2 on thesubstrate P. The second projection module PL2 is arranged at a positionabout the center plane P3 with the first projection module PL1 whenviewed in the Y-axis direction.

The fourth projection module PL4 and the sixth projection module PL6correspond to the fourth illumination module IL and the sixthillumination module IL, respectively. The fourth projection module PL4and the sixth projection module PL6 are arranged at positionsoverlapping with the second projection module PL2 when viewed in theY-axis direction.

In this embodiment, light traveling from the illumination module IL ofthe illumination mechanism IU to the illumination areas IR1 to IR6 onthe cylindrical mask DM is defined as an illumination light beam EL1.Light modulated in intensity distribution based on the partial patternsof the cylindrical mask DM appearing in the illumination areas IR1 toIR6, made incident on the projection modules PL1 to PL6, and arriving atthe projection areas PA1 to PA6 is defined as an image-forming lightbeam EL2 (exposing illumination light). In this embodiment, as shown inFIG. 2, principal rays passing through the center points of theprojection areas PA1 to PA6 out of the image-forming light beams EL2arriving at the projection areas PA1 to PA6 are arranged at position(specific positions) of angle θ in the circumferential direction withthe center plane P3 when viewed in the direction of the rotation centerline AX2 of the rotary drum DR.

As shown in the right drawing of FIG. 3, an image of a pattern in thefirst illumination area IR1 is projected onto the first projection areaPA1, an image of a pattern in the third illumination area IR3 isprojected onto the third projection area PA3, and an image of a patternin the fifth illumination area IR5 is projected onto the fifthprojection area PA5. In this embodiment, the first projection area PA1,the third projection area PA3, and the fifth projection area PA5 arearranged in a line in the Y-axis direction.

An image of a pattern in the second illumination area IR2 is projectedonto the second projection area PA2. In this embodiment, the secondprojection area PA2 is arranged to be symmetric about the center planeP3 with the first projection area PA1 when viewed in the Y-axisdirection. An image of a pattern in the fourth illumination area IR4 isprojected onto the fourth projection area PA4 and an image of a patternin the sixth illumination area IR6 is projected onto the sixthprojection area PA6. In this embodiment, the second projection area PA2,the fourth projection area PA4, and the sixth projection area PA6 arearranged in a line in the Y-axis direction.

The first projection area PA1 to the sixth projection area PA6 arearranged so that the ends (the triangular parts of the trapezoid) of theneighboring projection areas (the odd-numbered projection areas and theeven-numbered projection areas) in a direction parallel to the secondcenter line AX2 overlap with each other when viewed in thecircumferential direction of the second surface p2. Accordingly, a thirdarea A5 on the substrate P passing through the first projection area PA1with the rotation of the rotary drum DR partially overlaps with a fourtharea A6 on the substrate P passing through the second projection areaPA2 with the rotation of the rotary drum DR. The shapes of the firstprojection area PA1 and the second projection area PA2 are set so thatthe exposure amount in the area in which the third area A5 and thefourth area A6 overlap is substantially equal to the exposure amount inwhich the areas do not overlap.

The detailed configuration of the projection optical system PL accordingto this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In thisembodiment, each of the second projection module PL2 to the fifthprojection module PL5 has the same configuration as the first projectionmodule PL1. Accordingly, the configuration of the first projectionmodule PL1 will be described representatively of the projection opticalsystem PL.

The first projection module PL1 shown in FIG. 4 includes a first opticalsystem 41 that forms an image of a pattern of the cylindrical mask DMarranged in the first illumination area IR1 on the intermediate imageplane P7, a second optical system 42 that re-forms at least a part ofthe intermediate image formed by the first optical system 41 in thefirst projection area PA1 of the substrate P, and a first fielddiaphragm 43 that is disposed on the intermediate image plane P7 onwhich the intermediate image is formed.

The first projection module PL1 includes a focus correcting opticalmember 44 configured to finely adjust a focused state of a mask patternimage (hereinafter, referred to as projection image) formed on thesubstrate P, an image shift correcting optical member 45 configured tofinely horizontally shift the projection image on the image plane, amagnification correcting optical member 47 configured to finely correctthe magnification of the projection image, and a rotation correctingmechanism 46 configured to finely rotate the projection image in theimage plane.

The image-forming light beam EL2 from the pattern of the cylindricalmask DM is emitted in the normal direction (D1) from the firstillumination area IR1, passes through the focus correcting opticalmember 44, and is made incident on the image shift correcting opticalmember 45. The image-forming light beam EL2 passing through the imageshift correcting optical member 45 is reflected at a first reflectionsurface (planar mirror) p4 of a first deflection member 50 which is anelement of the first optical system 41, passes through a first lensgroup 51, is reflected at a first concave mirror 52, passes through thefirst lens group 51 again, is reflected at a second reflection surface(planar mirror) p5 of the first deflection member 50, and is madeincident on a first field diaphragm 43. The image-forming light beam EL2passing through the first field diaphragm 43 is reflected at a thirdreflection surface (planar mirror) p8 of a second deflection member 57which is an element of the second optical system 42, passes through asecond lens group 58, is reflected at a second concave mirror 59, passesthrough the second lens group 58 again, is reflected at a fourthreflection surface (planar mirror) p9 of the second deflection member57, and is then made incident on the magnification correcting opticalmember 47. The image-forming light beam EL2 emitted from themagnification correcting optical member 47 is made incident on the firstprojection area PA1 on the substrate P and the image of the patternappearing in the first illumination area IR1 is projected onto the firstprojection area PA1 at an equal magnification (×1).

As shown in FIG. 2, when the radius r1 of the cylindrical mask DM andthe radius r2 of the cylindrical surface of the substrate P wound aroundthe rotary drum DR are set to be equal to each other, the principal rayof the image-forming light beam EL2 at the mask side of each of theprojection modules PL1 to PL6 is inclined so as to pass through thecenter line AX1 of the cylindrical mask DM, but the inclination anglethereof is equal to the inclination angle θ (±θ about the center planeP3) of the principal ray of the image-forming light beam EL2 at thesubstrate side.

In order to give such inclination angle θ, the angle θ1 of the firstreflection surface p4 of the first deflection member 50 shown in FIG. 4about the optical axis AX3 is set to be smaller by Δθ1 than 45° and theangle θ4 of the fourth reflection surface p9 of the second deflectionmember 57 about the optical axis AX4 is set to be smaller by Δθ4 than45°. Δθ1 and Δθ4 are set to have a relationship of Δθ1=Δθ4=θ/2 with theangle θ shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the rotary drumDR.

In FIG. 5, for the purpose of convenience of explanation, only thesecond projection area PA2 to the fourth projection area PA4 are shownand the first projection area PA1, the fifth projection area PA5, andthe sixth projection area PA6 are not shown.

The second detector 35 optically detects the rotational position of therotary drum DR and includes a scale disk (the scale member, thedisk-like member) SD with high roundness and encoder heads (readingmechanism) EN1 to EN3.

The scale disk SD is fixed to the rotation shaft ST of the rotary drumDR and rotates along with the rotation shaft ST about the rotationcenter line AX2 and a scale portion GP is carved on the outercircumferential surface. The encoder heads EN1 to EN3 are disposed toface the scale portion GP and read the scale portion GP in anon-contacting manner. The encoder heads EN1 and EN2 have measurementsensitivity (detection sensitivity) to displacement in a tangentdirection (in the XZ plane) of the scale portion GP. When theinstallation azimuths thereof (angle directions in the XZ plane aboutthe rotation center line AX2) are denoted by installation azimuth linesLe1 and Le2, the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 are arranged so that theinstallation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2 are ±00 with respect to thecenter plane P3.

That is, the installation azimuth line Le1 of the encoder head EN1matches the inclination angle θ of the principal ray passing through thecenter points of the projection fields PA1, PA3, and PA5 of theodd-numbered projection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5 about the center planeP3. The installation azimuth line Le2 of the encoder head EN2 matchesthe inclination angle θ of the principal ray passing through the centerpoints of the projection fields PA2, PA4, and PA6 of the even-numberedprojection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6 about the center plane P3.

The third encoder head (the third reading mechanism) EN3 is arranged onthe opposite side of the rotation center line AX2 with respect to theencoder heads EN1 and EN2, and the installation azimuth line Le3 thereofis set on the center plane P3.

The scale disk SD in this embodiment is manufactured with a diameter aslarge as possible (for example, a diameter of 20 cm or more) so as toenhance the measurement resolution using metal with a low thermalexpansion coefficient, glass, ceramics, or the like as a base material.In FIG. 5, the diameter of the scale disk SD is shown to be smaller thanthe diameter of the rotary drum DR. However, a so-called measurementAbbe error can be further reduced by causing the diameter of the scaleportion GP of the scale disk SD to match (to be almost equal to) thediameter of the outer circumferential surface around which the substrateP is wound in the outer circumferential surface of the rotary drum DR.

The minimum pitch of the scales (grids) caved in the circumferentialdirection of the scale portion GP is limited by the performance of ascale carving device or the like. Accordingly, when the diameter of thescale disk SD is set to be large, the angle measurement resolutioncorresponding to the minimum pitch can be accordingly enhanced.

As described above, the directions of the installation azimuth lines Le1and Le2 in which the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 for reading the scaleportion GP are arranged are set to be equal to the directions in whichthe principal rays of the image-forming light beams EL2 are madeincident on the substrate P with respect to the substrate P when viewedfrom the rotation center line AX2. Accordingly, even when the rotarydrum DR is shifted in the X-axis direction due to a slight rattle (about2 μm to 3 μm) of a bearing supporting the rotation shaft, a positionalerror in the conveyance direction (Xs) of the substrate P which can begenerated in the projection areas PA1 to PA6 can be measured with highaccuracy by the use of the encoder heads EN1 and EN2.

By comparing the measured values by the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 withthe measured value by the encoder head EN3, it is possible to suppressthe influence of an eccentric error of the scale disk SD from therotation shaft ST and thus to perform the measurement with highaccuracy.

When the position in the rotating direction or the rotation speed of therotary drum DR is stably detected on the basis of the measurementsignals from the encoder heads EN1, EN2, and EN3, the controller 14controls the second driving part 36 in a servo mode. Accordingly, it ispossible to control the rotational position of the rotary drum DR withhigher accuracy. By servo-controlling the rotational position and therotation speed of the first drum member 21 through the use of the firstdriving part 26 on the basis of the measurement signal corresponding tothe rotational position or the rotation speed of the first drum member21 (cylindrical mask DM) detected by the first detector 25, it ispossible to synchronously move (synchronously rotate) the first drummember 21 and the rotary drum DR.

Accordingly, the speed in the circumferential direction of a pattern onthe cylindrical mask DM and the conveyance speed of the substrate P bythe rotary drum DR are accurately set to the projection magnification ofthe projection optical system PL, for example, 1:1 herein.

Accordingly, the images of the patterns located in the illuminationareas IR of the cylindrical mask DM illuminated by the plurality ofillumination modules IL are projected onto the projection areas PA onthe substrate P corresponding to the illumination modules.

In this way, in this embodiment, the installation azimuth lines Le1 andLe2 of the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 arranged around the scale portionGP of the scale disk SD are set to match (to be equal to) theinclination direction of the principal ray of the image-forming lightbeam EL2 traveling toward the projection areas PA on the substrate Pwhen viewed from the direction of the rotation center line AX2.Accordingly, even when the rotary drum DR is finely shifted in thedirection of the scanning exposure (conveyance direction) of thesubstrate P, it is possible to measure the shift in real time by the useof the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 and thus to correct the variation inexposure position due to the shift, for example, by the use of the imageshift correcting optical member 45 or the like in the projection opticalsystem PL with high accuracy and at a high speed.

Therefore, it is possible to perform an exposure process on thesubstrate P with high positional accuracy.

Second Embodiment

A substrate processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 6.

In the drawing, the same elements as in the first embodiment shown inFIGS. 1 to 5 will be given the same reference signs and descriptionthereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the scale disk SD installed in the rotarydrum DR when viewed from the direction of the rotation center line AX2(the Y-axis direction). In this embodiment, like in FIG. 5, encoderheads EN1 and EN2 arranged in the installation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2inclined in the same direction as the direction in which theimage-forming light beam EL2 (principal ray) traveling toward therotation center line AX2 is made incident on the substrate P and anencoder head EN3 arranged in the installation azimuth line Le3 (thecenter plane P3) to face the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 are provided inthe XZ plane as shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, in addition to theencoder heads EN1, EN2, and EN3, encoder heads EN4 and EN5 arerespectively arranged in the installation azimuth lines Le4 and Le5 setin the radial direction of the scale portion GP to be parallel to theobservation directions AMD1 and AMD2 (extending to the rotation centerline AX2) of the substrate P by the alignment microscopes AM1 and AM2(the detection probe, the pattern detecting device) shown in FIG. 1.

The positions in the circumferential direction about the rotation centerline AX2 at which the alignment microscopes AM1 and AM2 and the encoderheads EN4 and EN5 are set to be located (in a specific range) between anapproaching area IA in which the substrate P starts contacting therotary drum DR and a separation area OA in which the substrate P isseparated from the rotary drum DR.

The alignment microscope AM1 of this embodiment is arranged on thepreceding side of the exposure position (projection area), detects animage of alignment marks (which are formed in an area of several tens ofμm square to several hundreds of μm square) formed in the vicinity ofthe ends in the Y-axis direction of the substrate P at a high speed bythe use of an imaging device or the like in a state where the substrateP is conveyed at a predetermined speed, and samples the images of themarks in a microscope field (imaging range) at a high speed. By storingthe rotation angle position of the scale disk SD which is sequentiallymeasured by the encoder head EN4 at the instant of sampling, thecorrespondence between the mark position on the substrate P and therotation angle of the rotary drum DR is calculated.

On the other hand, the alignment microscope AM2 is arranged after theexposure position (projection area), and samples an image of alignmentmarks (which are formed in an area of several tens of μm square toseveral hundreds of μm square) formed in the vicinity of the ends in theY-axis direction of the substrate P at a high speed by the use of animaging device or the like similarly to the alignment microscope AM1. Bystoring the rotation angle position of the scale disk SD which issequentially measured by the encoder head EN5 at the instant ofsampling, the correspondence between the mark position on the substrateP and the rotation angle of the rotary drum DR is calculated.

When the mark detected by the alignment microscope AM1 is detected bythe alignment microscope AM2, the difference between the angle positionmeasured and stored by the encoder head EN4 and the angle positionmeasured and stored by the encoder head EN5 is compared with an openingangle of the installation azimuth lines Le4 and Le5 of two alignmentmicroscopes AM1 and AM2 accurately calibrated in advance. When there isan error therebetween, there is a possibility that the substrate Pslightly slides on the rotary drum DR or expands or contracts in theconveyance direction (circumferential direction) between the approacharea IA and the separation area OA.

In general, the positional error at the time of patterning is determineddepending on fineness or overlap accuracy of device patterns formed onthe substrate P. For example, in order to accurately overlap and exposean underlying pattern layer with a line pattern with a width of 10 μm,only an error of one over several thereof, that is, a positional errorof about ±2 μm in terms of the size on the substrate P, is allowed.

In order to realize such high-accuracy measurement, the measuringdirection (the tangential direction of the outer circumference of therotary drum DR in the XZ plane) of a mark image by the alignmentmicroscopes AM1 and AM2 and the measuring direction (the tangentialdirection of the outer circumference of the scale portion GP in the XZplane) by the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 need to be matched within anallowable angle error.

As described above, in this embodiment, the operations and advantages ofthe first embodiment can be achieved. In addition, the encoder heads EN4and EN5 are arranged so as to match the measuring directions (thetangential direction of the circumferential surface of the rotary drumDR) of an alignment mark (specific pattern) on the substrate P by thealignment microscopes AM1 and AM2. Accordingly, even when the rotarydrum DR (the scale disk SD) is shifted in the circumferential direction(the tangential direction) perpendicular to the installation azimuthline Le4 or Le5 in the XZ plane at the time of detecting the position(sampling the image) of the substrate P (mark) by the use of thealignment microscope AM1 and AM2, it is possible to measure a positionwith high accuracy in consideration of such shift.

As a result, the driving of the cylindrical mask DM, the driving of therotary drum DR, or the applying of a tension to the substrate P by thecontroller 14 can be subjected to accurate feedback control orfeedforward control, and it is thus possible to perform a high-accuracyexposure process on the substrate P.

In this embodiment, the encoder head EN4 set to the position in thecircumferential direction of the imaging field of the alignmentmicroscope AM1 can be arranged in the vicinity of the encoder head EN1set to the positions in the circumferential direction of theodd-numbered projection areas PA1, PA3, and PA5, and the encoder headEN5 set to the position in the circumferential direction of the imagingfield of the alignment microscope AM2 can be arranged in the vicinity ofthe encoder head EN2 set to the positions in the circumferentialdirection of the even-numbered projection areas PA2, PA4, and PA6.

Accordingly, it is possible to measure a pitch deviation in thecircumferential direction of the scales (grids) carved in the scaleportion GP using a set of two neighboring encoder heads (EN1 and EN4, orEN2 and EN5). By measuring such pitch deviation over the entirecircumference of the scale disk SD, it is possible to prepare acorrection map corresponding to the rotation angle position of the scaledisk SD and thus to perform higher-accuracy measurement.

In this embodiment, since the encoder heads EN1 to EN5 are arranged atfive positions around the scale disk SD, it is possible to calculateroundness (deformation), an eccentric error, and the like of the scaleportion GP of the scale disk SD by combining and calculating the valuesmeasured by two or three appropriate encoder heads thereof.

Third Embodiment

A substrate processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. Inthe drawings, the same elements as in the first and second embodimentsshown in FIGS. 1 to 6 will be given the same reference signs and adescription thereof will not be repeated.

In this embodiment, a roundness adjusting device that adjusts roundnessof the scale disk SD is provided. As shown in FIG. 7B, the roundnessadjusting device CS includes a protrusion SD1 protruding in a ring shapealong the circumferential direction from the surface on the +Y-axis sideof the scale disk SD and a disk-like fixed plate FP into which therotation shaft ST is inserted and fixed on the +Y-axis side of the scaledisk SD.

The surface of the fixed plate FP on the side facing the scale disk SDis provided with a protrusion FP1 protruding in a ring shape along thecircumferential direction. An inclined surface SD2 gradually increasingin diameter toward the fixed plate FP is formed on the innercircumference side of the protrusion SD1. An inclined surface FP2gradually decreasing in diameter toward the scale disk SD and fitted tothe inclined surface SD2 is formed on the outer circumference side ofthe protrusion FP1. The diameter of the tip of the inclined surface FP2is set to be larger than the diameter of the base of the inclinedsurface SD2. The diameter of the tip of the inclined surface SD2 is setto be smaller than the diameter of the base of the inclined surface FP2.

In the scale disk SD, a through-hole SD3 and a stepped portion SD4opened to the −Y-axis side are formed along the rotation center line AX2at a distance from the rotation center line AX2 at which the protrusionSD1 is located. A female-screwed portion FP3 is formed in the fixedplate FP so as to be coaxial with the through-hole SD3 and the steppedportion SD4.

The through-hole SD3, the stepped portion SD4, and the female-screwedportion FP3 are formed at a plurality of positions (eight in thisembodiment) at predetermined pitches in the circumferential directionaround the rotation axis line AX2, and the respective positions serve asan adjustment portion.

An adjustment screw 60 including a male-threaded portion 61 insertedinto the through-hole SD3 and screwed to the female-screwed portion FP3and a head portion 62 engaging with the stepped portion SD4 is attachedto each adjustment portion.

In the roundness adjusting device CS having this configuration, byscrewing the adjustment screw 60 in, the scale disk SD moves in thedirection in which it gets close to the fixed plate FP and thus theinclined surface SD2 is elastically minutely deformed to the outerdiameter side along the inclined surface FP2. On the contrary, byreversely rotating the adjustment screw 60, the scale disk SD moves inthe direction in which it is spaced apart from the fixed plate FP andthus the inclined surface SD2 is elastically minutely deformed to theinner diameter side along the inclined surface FP2.

In this way, by operating the adjustment screw 60 in each adjustmentportion, the protrusion SD1 in the adjustment portion in the scale diskSD can be minutely adjusted in the circumferential direction and thediameter of the scale portion GP formed on the outer circumferentialsurface can be finely adjusted. Therefore, by operating the adjustmentportion (adjustment screw 60) at an appropriate position depending onthe roundness of the scale disk SD, it is possible to enhance theroundness of the scale portion GP of the scale disk SD or to reduce afine eccentric error with respect to the rotation center line AX2,thereby improving the position detection accuracy in the rotatingdirection of the rotary drum DR. The degree of adjustment variesdepending on the diameter of the scale disk SD and the radius positionof the adjustment portion, and is several micrometers at most.

In this embodiment, similarly to the first and second embodiments, thethird encoder head (the third reading mechanism) EN3 may be arranged onthe opposite side of the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 with the rotationcenter line AX2 interposed therebetween.

Fourth Embodiment

A substrate processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Inthe drawings, the same elements as in the first to third embodimentsshown in FIGS. 1 to 7B will be given the same reference signs and adescription thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the rotary drumDR around which the substrate P is wound. In FIG. 8, the encoder headsEN1 and EN2 having the same installation azimuth in the circumferentialdirection as the image-forming light beam EL2 are not shown.

As shown in FIG. 8, in this embodiment, total twelve alignmentmicroscopes (also referred to as non-contacting detection probes) AM arearranged around the substrate P wound around the rotary drum DR.

The twelve alignment microscopes are arranged so that three alignmentmicroscope groups AMG4, AMG5, and AMG6 each including four alignmentmicroscopes AM arranged at predetermined intervals in the direction (theY-axis direction) in which the rotation center line AX2 extends arearranged at predetermined angle intervals in the circumferentialdirection of the rotary drum DR.

The four alignment microscopes AM constituting the alignment microscopegroup AMG4 face the rotation center line AX2 and have observation(detection) center lines AMD4 inclined in the same direction in the XZplane. The four alignment microscopes AM constituting the alignmentmicroscope group AMG5 face the rotation center line AX2 and haveobservation (detection) center lines AMD5 inclined in the same directionin the XZ plane. The four alignment microscopes AM constituting thealignment microscope group AMG6 face the rotation center line AX2 andhave observation (detection) center lines AMD6 inclined in the samedirection in the XZ plane.

The alignment microscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 are arranged to be closerto the approaching area IA side (the −X-axis side) than the exposurepositions (the projection areas PA1 to PA6) to the substrate P in thecircumferential direction of the rotary drum DR. That is, the alignmentmicroscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 are arranged around the rotary drum DR sothat the detection areas by the alignment microscope groups AMG4 to AMG6are set at the upstream side in the conveyance direction of thesubstrate P than the two encoder heads EN1 and EN2 arranged tocorrespond to the exposure positions (the projection areas PA1 to PA6).

In this embodiment as shown in FIG. 8, the encoder heads EN4 to EN6 (thedetection position reading mechanism) are arranged in the installationazimuth lines Le4, Le5, and Le6 extending in the same direction as theobservation (detection) center lines AMD4 to AMD5 of three alignmentmicroscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 when viewed in the XZ plane. The encoderheads EN4 to EN6 read the scale portion GP in a non-contacting manner.

FIG. 9 shows an arrangement of three encoder heads EN4 to EN6 whenviewed in the XZ plane. The three encoder heads EN4 to EN6 are arrangedat positions on the preceding side in the conveyance direction of thesubstrate P (on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of thesubstrate P) on the rotary drum DR with respect to the two encoder headsEN1 and EN2 arranged to correspond to the exposure positions (theprojection areas PA1 to PA6) and at positions on the subsequent side ofthe approaching area IA of the substrate P (on the downstream side inthe conveyance direction of the substrate P).

In the processing apparatus U3 having this configuration, an alignmentmark (specific pattern) having a predetermined correlation with apattern (pattern-formed area) is discretely or continuously formed inthe length direction of the substrate P at the positions correspondingto the alignment microscopes AM (the detection probe, the patterndetecting device) of the alignment microscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 (thedetection probe) on the substrate P, and the alignment mark issequentially detected by the alignment microscope groups AMG4 to AMG6.Accordingly, error information such as the position, size, rotation, anddeformation of a pattern can be measured in advance before exposing thesubstrate P and it is possible to form a pattern with high accuracy bycorrecting projection conditions in the exposure process on the basis ofthe error information or the like.

Each of the alignment microscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 includes fouralignment microscopes AM arranged in a line in the Y-axis direction (thewidth direction of the substrate P), and two alignment microscopes AM onboth sides of the Y-axis direction can normally detect marks formed inthe vicinity of both ends of the substrate P. Two alignment microscopeAM on the inner side out of four alignment microscopes AM arranged in aline in the Y-axis direction (the width direction of the substrate P)can observe and detect, for example, alignment marks formed in marginsand the like between the pattern-formed areas of plurality of displaypanels formed along the length direction on the substrate P.

Alternatively, a specific area in which a display panel is not formedmay be set at plurality of locations in the length direction of thesubstrate P and twelve alignment marks may be formed in the specificareas in an arrangement in which twelve alignment microscopes AMconstituting three alignment microscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 can detectthe alignment marks. Accordingly, it is possible to rapidly and minutelymeasure how a part immediately before the exposure positions (theprojection areas PA1 to PA6) of the substrate P is deformed as asurface, on the basis of the relative positional relationship of themarks detected by the twelve alignment microscopes AM.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the operations and advantages describedin the above-mentioned embodiments can be achieved. In addition, theencoder heads EN4 to EN6 corresponding to three lines of alignmentmicroscope groups AMG4 to AMG6 can be arranged adjacent to each other ina circumferential portion before the exposure positions around the scaledisk SD. Accordingly, by analyzing the measurement results of theencoder heads EN4 to EN6, the measurement error due to a pitch deviationin the circumferential direction of the scales or grids carved in thescale portion GP can be known in advance and the measurement results ofthe encoder heads EN1 and EN2 arranged to correspond to the exposurepositions can be corrected using the predicted measurement error due tothe pitch deviation being known in advance.

As a result, it is possible to perform a patterning process (exposureprocess) on the substrate P with high positioning accuracy.

Fifth Embodiment

A substrate processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 10. In thedrawings, the same elements as in the first to fourth embodiments shownin FIGS. 1 to 9 will be given the same reference signs and a descriptionthereof will not be repeated.

The first to fourth embodiments have described the configuration inwhich the scale disk SD of the encoder is fixed to the rotation shaft STof the rotary drum DR. This embodiment employs a configuration in whichthe scale portion GP is directly formed in the rotary drum DR conveyingthe substrate P or the cylindrical mask DM.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the entire configuration of the processingapparatus U3 shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 10, at both ends in the direction of the rotationcenter line AX2 on the outer circumferential surface of the rotary drumDR also serving as a second scale member, a scale portion (the secondscale portion) GP is arranged in a ring shape over the entirecircumference in the circumferential direction.

The substrate P is wound around an inner portion other than the scaleportion GP formed at both ends of the rotary drum DR. When a strictarrangement relationship is necessary, the outer circumferential surfaceof the scale portion GP and the outer circumferential surface of aportion of the substrate P wound around the rotary drum DR are set to beflush with each other (to have the same radius from the center lineAX2). For this purpose, the outer circumferential surface of the scaleportion GP can be set to be higher by the thickness of the substrate Pin the radial direction than the outer circumferential surface of therotary drum DR around which the substrate is wound.

In this embodiment, the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 are arranged at thepositions of the installation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2 described abovewith reference to FIG. 5 to face the scale portions GP at both ends ofthe rotary drum DR and to correspond to the image-forming light beam EL2(principal ray) from the projection areas PA1 to PA6 of the projectionoptical system PL.

The encoder heads EN1 and EN2 are fixed to a support column PLaconfigured to support the multi-lens type projection optical system PLmechanically stable. The support column PLa is formed of metal such asinvar having a small thermal expansion coefficient with a variation intemperature and can suppress position variations of the projectionmodules PL1 to PL6 or a relative arrangement variation of the projectionoptical system PL and the encoder heads EN1 and EN2, due to thevariation in temperature so as to be small.

On the other hand, in the edges of both ends in the rotation center lineAX1 of the first drum member 21 supporting the cylindrical mask DM,scale portions GPM as the first scale member are disposed in a ringshape over the entire circumference in the circumferential directionaround the rotation center line AX1.

The cylindrical mask DM is configured so that a mask pattern is locatedin the inner portion other than the scale portions GPM formed at bothends of the first drum member 21. When a strict arrangement relationshipis necessary, the outer circumferential surface of the scale portion GPMand the outer circumferential surface of a pattern surface (cylindricalsurface) of the cylindrical mask DM are set to be flush with each other(to have the same radius from the center line AX1).

Encoder heads EN11 and EN12 are arranged at positions facing the scaleportions GPM at both ends of the first drum member 21 (the cylindricalmask DM) and at positions of the installation azimuth lines Le11 andLe12 in the same direction as the illumination direction of theillumination light beam EL1 (see FIG. 2) for illuminating theillumination areas IR of the cylindrical mask DM when viewed from thedirection of the rotation center line AX1. The encoder heads EN11 andEN12 are fixed to the support column PLa supporting the projectionoptical system PL.

In the cylindrical mask DM, scale or grid patterns carved in the scaleportion GPM can be formed on the outer circumferential surface of thefirst drum member 21 along with a device pattern to be transferred tothe substrate P. Accordingly, the relative positional relationshipbetween the device pattern and the scale portions GPM can be strictlyset and an origin pattern indicating an origin of one turn in a part ofthe scale portion GPM can be accurately carved at a specific position inthe circumferential direction of the device pattern.

In this embodiment, the cylindrical mask DM is exemplified to betransmissive. However, the scale portions GPM (such as the scales, thegrids, and the origin patterns) can be similarly formed in a reflectivecylindrical mask along with a device pattern. In general, when areflective cylindrical mask is manufactured, a metal column member of ashaft as the first drum member 21 is machined with a high-precisionlathe and a high-precision polishing machine and it is thus possible tosuppress roundness or shaft displacement (eccentricity) of the outercircumferential surface thereof so as to be very small. Accordingly, itis possible to perform high-precision encoder measurement by forming thescale portions GPM in the same process step as forming the devicepattern on the outer circumferential surface.

In such processing apparatus U3 having this configuration, the positionin the rotating direction of the first drum member 21 (cylindrical maskDM) is measured by the encoder heads EN11 and EN12 arranged in the sameinstallation azimuth lines Le11 and Le12 as the illumination directionof the illumination light beam EL1 traveling toward the mask pattern.Accordingly, even when the mask pattern slightly moves in thecircumferential direction with respect to the field area (or theprincipal ray) at the object side of the projection optical system PLcorresponding to the illumination areas IR1 to IR6 on the cylindricalmask DM due to a mechanical error (eccentric error, displacement) or thelike of the rotation shaft of the cylindrical mask DM and thus an imageprojected onto the substrate P is shifted in the conveyance direction(the length direction) of the substrate P, the degree of shift can beeasily estimated from the measurement results of the encoder heads EN11and EN12.

Although not shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of alignment microscopes AMfor detecting alignment marks or alignment patterns on the substrate Pare also disposed in this embodiment. The mark detection positions bythe alignment microscopes AM are determined as described with referenceto FIG. 6 or 9 and the encoder heads EN4, EN5, and EN6 are also disposedto correspond thereto.

In this case, the plurality of alignment microscopes AM and the encoderheads EN4, EN5, and EN6 are all fixed to the support column PLa.

A plurality of alignment marks (referred to as mask-side marks) foralignment with the substrate P are formed on the outer circumferentialsurface of the cylindrical mask DM. The mask-side alignment microscopesfor detecting the mask-side marks are fixed to the support column PLaand the encoder heads for reading the scale portion GPM in the azimuthin the XZ plane corresponding to the detection positions of themask-side alignment microscopes are also fixed to the support columnPLa.

In such a type of scanning exposure apparatus, the surface of thesubstrate P needs to be normally set within a depth of focus (DOF) onthe image-forming surface side of the projection optical system PL.Accordingly, a plurality of focus sensors are also provided whichaccurately measures a variation in position (position in the radialdirection from the rotation center line AX2) in the principal raydirection on the surface of the substrate P in the μm order within theprojection areas PA1 to PA6 on the substrate P based on the projectionmodules PL1 to PL6 or positions in the vicinity thereof.

The focus sensor (such as a non-contacting height sensor) employsvarious methods. When a resolution of the μm order is necessary, anoblique incident light type focus sensor is used which obliquelyprojects a light beam to a target surface (the substrate P) andphoto-electrically detects a variation in position at which the lightbeam reflected from the target surface is received. In this case, alight projecting unit configured to project a light beam onto thesubstrate P and a light receiving unit configured to receive a reflectedlight beam from the substrate P are required, and these units are alsofixed to the support column PLa shown in FIG. 10.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the same operations and advantages asdescribed in the above-mentioned embodiments can be achieved. Inaddition, since the encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN11, and EN12 correspondingto the projection areas or the encoder heads EN4, EN5, and EN6corresponding to the alignment microscopes are fixed to the supportcolumn PLa stably supporting the projection optical system PL, therelative displacement between the encoder heads (measurement positions)and the projection optical systems PL (processing positions), that is, aso-called baseline variation, can be suppressed.

In this embodiment, the outer circumferential surface of the scaleportion GPM formed in the cylindrical mask DM can be set to almost thesame radius as the mask pattern-formed surface and the outercircumferential surface of the scale portion GP formed in the rotarydrum DR can be set to almost the same radius as the outercircumferential surface of the substrate P. Accordingly, the encoderheads EN11 and EN12 can detect the scale portion GPM at the samepositions in the radial direction as the illumination areas IR1 to IR6on the cylindrical mask DM, and the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 can detectthe scale portion GP at the same positions in the radial direction asthe projection areas PA1 to PA6 on the substrate P wound around therotary drum DR. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the Abbe errorthat is caused because the measurement position and the processingposition are different from each other in the radial direction of therotary system.

The rotary drum DR and the first drum member 21 (cylindrical mask DM)are provided with the scale portions GP and GPM. Accordingly, since thecircumferential length can be increased in comparison with the casewhere the scale disk SD is used, the resolution is improved even in thescale portion having the same pitch and it is possible to detect aposition with higher accuracy.

Modification Example

The fifth embodiment and the first to fourth embodiments have describedthe configuration in which scales or grids for measuring a position inthe rotating direction are carved on the cylindrical outercircumferential surface of the first drum member 21 constituting thecylindrical mask DM or the outer circumferential end surfaces of thescale disk SD and are measured by the encoder heads, but the inventionis not limited to this configuration.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a configuration in which a scaleportion GPMR for measuring a variation in position in the rotatingdirection is formed in a ring-shape along the circumferential directionin a circumferential edge of an end surface of the first drum member 21(the cylindrical mask DM) and a scale portion GPMT for measuring avariation in position in the direction of the rotation center line AX1(the Y-axis direction) is formed in a ring shape along thecircumferential direction in an edge of the circumferential surfacehaving a mask pattern formed thereon may be employed.

In this case, the encoder head EN11 and EN12 can be disposed in theinstallation azimuth lines Le11 and Le12 facing the scale portion GPMRand extending in the same direction as the illumination direction of theillumination light beam EL1 and an encoder head EN21 (the measurementdirection of which is the Y-axis direction) for reading the scaleportion GPMT in a non-contacting manner can be disposed to face thescale portion GPMT. The encoder heads EN11, EN12, and EN21 are fixed tothe support column PLa supporting the projection optical system PL.

By employing this configuration, it is possible to measure a variationin position in the direction of the rotation center line AX1 (the Y-axisdirection) in addition to the variation in position in the rotatingdirection of the cylindrical mask DM.

Here, the scale portions GPMR and the GPMT and the encoder heads EN11,EN12, and EN21 shown in FIG. 11 are also similarly disposed at theopposite end of the first drum member 21.

In this way, when the scale portions GPMR and GPMT are formed at bothends of the first drum member 21 constituting the cylindrical mask DM,it is also possible to accurately measure slight torsion of thecylindrical mask DM around the center line AX1 or slight expansion orcontraction in the direction of the center line AX1 in real time and itis thus possible to accurately detect image deformation (such as aprojection magnification error in the Y-axis direction) or a minuterotation error of the mask pattern projected onto the substrate P.

In the same way as disposing the scale portion GPMR for determining theposition in the rotating direction on the end surface side of the firstdrum member 21 constituting the cylindrical mask DM, a scale portion fordetermining the position in the rotating direction may be disposed atthe end surface side (the surface side parallel to the XY plane) of therotary drum DR on which the substrate P is wound. Similarly to the scaleportion GPMT shown in FIG. 11, a scale portion for determining theposition in the direction in which the rotation center line AX2 extendsmay be formed on the outer circumferential surface in the vicinity ofboth ends in the direction of the center line AX2 of the rotary drum DR.

Sixth Embodiment

A substrate processing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 12. In thedrawing, the same elements as in the fifth embodiment shown in FIGS. 10and 11 will be given the same reference signs and a description thereofwill not be repeated.

In this embodiment, a speed measuring device for measuring informationon the relative rotational speed of the first drum member 21(cylindrical mask DM) and the rotary drum DR (substrate P) is providedin addition to the encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN11, and EN12 for measuringa position in the rotating direction.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a speedmeasuring device SA which is disposed between the first drum member 21and the rotary drum DR. In the speed measuring device SA, an opticalmember (optical splitter) 71 including a light-reflecting portion 71A atthe center in the X-axis direction (the arrangement direction of thescale portions GPM and GP) and light-transmitting portions 71B on bothsides of the light-reflecting portion 71A is disposed to face a laserirradiation system 70. A laser beam emitted from the laser irradiationsystem 70 is reflected by the reflection surface of the optical member71 and is projected to the scale portion GPM of the first drum member 21via a lens GK1.

By causing a laser beam to be incident on the rotating scale portionGPM, a Doppler-shifted diffracted beam (±first-order reflected anddiffracted beam) and a zeroth reflected beam are formed and are madeincident on the lens GK1. The zeroth reflected beam (a first diffractedbeam or a second diffracted beam) is reflected to the laser irradiationsystem 70 by the light-reflecting portion 71A of the optical member 71,but the ±first-order reflected and diffracted beam (a first diffractedbeam or a second diffracted beam) transmits the light-transmittingportions 71B of the optical member 71 and reaches a lens GK2 and a fielddiaphragm APM.

The optical member 71 is disposed in a pupil space of an image-formingsystem constituted by the lenses GK1 and GK2. The field diaphragm APM isdisposed at a position (image-plane position) optically conjugate to thescale portion GPM in the image-forming system constituted by the lensesGK1 and GK2. Accordingly, an image (a diffraction image moving or aninterference fringe flowing according to the scales) of the scaleportion GPM based on the ±first-order reflected and diffracted beam isformed at the position of the field diaphragm APM.

The ±first-order reflected and diffracted beam which transmitted thefield diaphragm AMP and made incident on a lens GK3 transmits a beamsplitter (or a polarizing beam splitter) 72 and is projected to thescale portion GP on the rotary drum DR via a lens GK4. When the±first-order reflected and diffracted beam is projected to the scaleportion GP, ±first-order re-diffracted beams having each of thediffracted beam as a zeroth beam are generated in the same direction,respectively, become interference beams interfering with each other, andare returned to the lens GK4 and the beam splitter 72, and there-diffracted beams (interference beams) reflected by the beam splitter72 are received by a light-receiving system 73.

In the above-mentioned configuration, the image-forming systemconstituted by the lenses GK3 and GK4 re-forms a diffraction imageformed at the position of the field diaphragm APM on the scale portionGP at the rotary drum DR side, and the beam splitter 72 is disposed in apupil space of the image-forming system constituted by the lenses GK3and GK4.

In the above-mentioned configuration, for example, when the scale pitchof the scale portion GPM and the scale pitch of the scale portion GP areequal to each other, a photoelectric signal received by thelight-receiving system 72 is a signal with constant intensity when adifference is present between the circumferential speed of the scaleportion GPM (the first drum member 21) and the circumferential speed ofthe scale portion GP (the rotary drum DR), but a photoelectric signalmodulated with the frequency corresponding to the difference in thecircumferential speed is output when a difference is not present betweenthe circumferential speed of the scale portion GPM and thecircumferential speed of the scale portion GP. Therefore, by analyzing awaveform variation of the photoelectric signal output from thelight-receiving system 72, it is possible to measure the speeddifference between the scale portion GPM and the scale portion GP, thatis, the relative speed difference between the mask pattern of thecylindrical mask DM and the substrate P wound around the rotary drum DR.

(Device Manufacturing Method)

A device manufacturing method will be described below. FIG. 13 is aflowchart showing the device manufacturing method according to thisembodiment.

In the device manufacturing method shown in FIG. 13, first, functionsand performance of a device such as an organic EL display panel aredesigned (step 201). Subsequently, a cylindrical mask DM is manufacturedon the basis of the design of the device (step S202). A substrate suchas a transparent film or sheet or an ultrathin metal foil as a basematerial of the device is prepared by purchase, manufacturing, or thelike (step 203).

Subsequently, the prepared substrate is input to a roll type or patchtype manufacturing line, and TFT backplane layers such as electrodes,interconnections, insulating films, and semiconductor films or anorganic EL light-emitting layer as a pixel portion, which constitute thedevice, are formed on the substrate (step 204). Step 204 typicallyincludes a step of forming a resist pattern on a film of the substrateand a step of etching the film using the resist pattern as a mask. Theforming of the resist pattern includes a step of uniformly forming theresist film on the surface of the substrate, a step of exposing theresist film on the substrate with an exposing light patterned by thecylindrical mask DM depending on the above-mentioned embodiments, and astep of developing the resist film having a latent image of the maskpattern formed thereon by exposure.

In manufacturing a flexible device using a printing technique or thelike, a step of forming a functional photosensitive layer (such as aphotosensitive silane coupling material) on the surface of the substrateusing a coating method, a step of irradiating the functionalphotosensitive layer with a patterned exposing light via the cylindricalmask DM to form a hydrophilic portion and a hydrophobic portion in thefunctional photosensitive layer depending on the pattern shape on thebasis of the above-mentioned embodiments, a step of coating ahighly-hydrophilic portion of the functional photosensitive layer with aplating base liquid and forming a metal pattern (such as an electrodelayer and an interconnection layer of a TFT) by electroless plating, andthe like are performed by the manufacturing line shown in FIG. 1.

Subsequently, depending on the device to be manufactured, a step ofdicing or cutting the substrate or bonding and mixing another substratemanufactured in another step, for example, a sheet-like color filter ora thin glass substrate having a sealing function thereto and therewithis performed and devices are assembled (step 205). Then, the devices aresubjected to a post process such as inspection (step S206). In this way,a device can be manufactured.

While the exemplary embodiments of the invention have been describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, the invention is notlimited to the embodiments. The shapes or combinations of theconstituent members described in the above-mentioned embodiments areonly examples and can be modified in various forms depending on designrequest or the like without departing from the gist of the invention.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6,and 9 and the like, the configuration has been described in which theencoder heads EN1 and EN2 are disposed at the positions of theinstallation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2 and the like inclined in the samedirection as the incidence direction of the image-forming light beam EL2as the specific positions at which the projection process (the exposureprocess) or the like is performed on the substrate P.

However, as shown in FIG. 14, when the inclination angle of theimage-forming light beam EL2 based on the odd-numbered projectionmodules PL1, PL3, and PL5 about the center plane P3 and the inclinationangle of the image-forming light beam EL2 based on the even-numberedprojection modules PL2. PL4, and PL6 about the center plane P3 are bothsmall, a single encoder head EN31 may be disposed at the position (inthe installation azimuth line Le6) of the center plane P3 between thetwo image-forming light beams EL2.

In this way, when the single encoder head EN31 is disposed at theintermediate position between the two projection areas (theimage-forming light beams EL2) when viewed in the XZ plane, for example,as shown in the drawing, encoder heads EN32 and EN33 are disposed at twopositions symmetric about the center plane P3 and on the opposite sideof the rotation center line AX2 to the encoder head EN31 and informationof the rotational position of the scale portion GP measured by the threeencoder heads EN31 to EN33 can be used to detect the variation inposition in the circumferential direction of the rotary drum DR withhigher accuracy.

Particularly, when the three encoder heads EN31, EN32, and EN33 aredisposed at intervals of 120° around the scale portion GP, it ispossible to simply calculate the eccentric error or the like of thescale portion GP (the rotary drum DR and the like).

When this configuration is employed, the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 aredisposed at the positions of the installation azimuth lines Le4 and Le5extending in the same azimuths as the observation center lines AMD1 andAMD2 in which the alignment microscopes AM1 and AM2 are disposed, asdescribed in the second embodiment. Accordingly, the encoder heads EN32and EN33 can be disposed in the extensions of the installation azimuthlines Le4 and Le5. That is, the encoder head EN33 can be installed at aposition point-symmetric with the encoder head EN4 about the rotarycenter line AX2 and the encoder head EN32 can be installed at a positionpoint-symmetric with the encoder head EN5 about the rotary center lineAX2.

In the condition shown in FIG. 14, when total five encoder heads aredisposed around the scale disk SD, it is possible to detect theeccentric error, the shaft shift, the scale deformation, the pitcherror, and the like of the scale disk SD on the basis of the measurementsignals from the encoder heads EN4, EN5, and EN31 to EN33 and to correctthe eccentric error and the like with high accuracy.

This advantage can also be achieved, as shown in FIG. 10, when the scaleportion GPM is directly formed in the first drum member 21 constitutingthe cylindrical mask DM and when the scale portion GP is directly formedin the rotary drum DR.

For example, as shown in FIG. 15, when the encoder head EN31 can bedisposed at the position of the installation azimuth line Le6 like inFIG. 14, the encoder head EN32 may be disposed at the position of theinstallation azimuth line Le32 inclined by an angle symmetric with theinstallation azimuth line Le6 with respect to the line in which theimage-forming light beam EL2 from the odd-numbered projection modulesPL1, PL3, and PL5 travels toward the center line AX2, and the encoderhead EN33 may be disposed at the position of the installation azimuthline Le33 inclined by an angle symmetric with the installation azimuthline Le6 with respect to the line in which the image-forming light beamEL2 from the even-numbered projection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6 travelstoward the center line AX2.

In this arrangement, an average angle position of the reading result bythe encoder head EN31 and the reading result by the encoder head EN32may be set to correspond to the projection areas PA of the odd-numberedprojection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5, and an average angle position ofthe reading result by the encoder head EN31 and the reading result bythe encoder head EN33 may be set to correspond to the projection areasPA of the even-numbered projection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6.

When the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 having the same direction as theincidence direction of the image-forming light beam EL2 as the readingdirection are arranged, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, an encoderhead EN1 c may be disposed on the diagonally-opposite side of theencoder head EN1 and an encoder head EN2 c may be disposed on thediagonally-opposite side of the encoder head EN2.

In this case, from the reading result of the scale portion GP by theencoder head EN1, it is difficult to distinguishably understand whetherthe rotary drum DR (the scale disk SD) has rotated about the rotarycenter line AX2 or has shifted in the X-axis direction. However, thedistinguishable understanding can be accurately performed by comparisonwith the reading result of the scale portion GP by the encoder head EN1c located at the diagonally-opposite position (180°). Similarly, thedegree of shift in the X-axis direction and the degree of rotation (thevariation in angle position) can also be accurately distinguishablycalculated by comparing the reading results by the encoder head EN2 andthe encoder head EN2 c located on the diagonally-opposite side with eachother.

The arrangement methods of the encoder heads shown in FIGS. 14 to 16 canbe similarly applied to an encoder system in which the scale portions GPand GPM are disposed on the outer circumferential surface of the rotarydrum DR conveying the substrate P or the cylindrical mask DM as shown inFIGS. 10 and 11.

The above-mentioned embodiments are exemplary examples of the exposureapparatus that projects a pattern beam from the cylindrical mask DM tothe substrate P supported in a cylindrical shape by the rotary drum DR.However, in an apparatus having a configuration in which any one of themask pattern and the substrate P is conveyed by a rotation system, theencoder systems described in the above-mentioned embodiments can besimilarly applied to the rotation system.

Examples of such an apparatus include an optical drawing apparatus (anexample of which will be described later) that scans a substrate P on arotary drum in the width (short-side) direction of the substrate P witha laser spot beam at high speed while conveying the substrate Psupported by the rotary drum in the length direction of the substrate Pand draws a pattern of interconnections or circuits formed by a CAD orthe like, a maskless exposure apparatus that modulates a plurality ofmicro mirrors such as a DMD or an SLM and gives a contrast distribution(pattern beam) to a light beam projected to a predetermined area on thesubstrate P, a printing apparatus that draws a desired pattern withliquid droplets from an ink jet heads arranged in the width (short-side)direction of a substrate P while conveying the substrate P supported bya rotary drum in the length direction, a processing apparatus thatirradiates a substrate P supported by a rotary drum with an energy beam(such as an electron beam and a laser beam) to process (such as baking,annealing, reforming, and punching) a specific area of the surface ofthe substrate P, and an inspection apparatus that observes a pattern ona substrate P supported by a rotary drum with an observation system(detection probe) such as a fluorescent microscope or a phase differencemicroscope and that detects a pattern defect or the like.

In these apparatus, the installation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2 and thelike of the encoder heads may be set in accordance with the positions inthe circumferential direction of the rotary drum when the spot beam ofthe optical drawing apparatus, the projection light beam of the masklessexposure apparatus, the droplets ejected from the heads of the printingapparatus, the energy beam of the processing apparatus, and theobservation area of the inspection apparatus are set on the substrate.

Seventh Embodiment

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the invention is notlimited to the embodiment. The following embodiment is an exemplaryexample of an exposure apparatus using a so-called roll-to-roll type ofwhich continuously performs various processes against the substrate inorder to manufacture one device on a substrate P.

In the below description, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set upand positional relationships of respective elements will be describedwith reference to the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system. For example, apredetermined direction in a horizontal plane is defined as an X-axisdirection, a direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction in thehorizontal plane is defined as a Y-axis direction, and the direction(that is, the vertical direction) perpendicular to the X-axis directionand the Y-axis direction is defined as a Z-axis direction.

The configuration of the exposure apparatus according to this embodimentwill be described below with reference to FIGS. 17 to 19. FIG. 17 is adiagram schematically showing the entire configuration of a processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) according to the seventh embodiment. FIG.18 is a diagram schematically showing an arrangement of illuminationareas and projection areas in FIG. 17. FIG. 19 is a diagramschematically showing the configuration of a projection optical systemapplied to the processing apparatus (exposure apparatus) shown in FIG.17.

As shown in FIG. 17, the processing apparatus 11 includes an exposureapparatus (processing mechanism) EXA and a conveying device 9. Theconveying device 9 feeds a substrate P (such as a sheet, a film, or asheet substrate) to the exposure apparatus EXA. For example, a devicemanufacturing system is assumed in which a flexible substrate P drawnout form a feed roll not shown sequentially passes through n processingapparatuses, is processed by the processing apparatus 11, and is sent toanother processing apparatus by the conveying device 9, and thesubstrate P is wound around a collection roll. In this way, theprocessing apparatus 11 may be constituted as a part of a devicemanufacturing system (flexible display manufacturing line).

The exposure apparatus EXA is a so-called scanning exposure apparatusand projects (transfers) an image of a pattern formed on the cylindricalmask DM onto the substrate P through a projection optical system PL (PL1to PL6) with an equal projection magnification (×1) while synchronizingthe feeding of the substrate P (conveyance of the substrate P) with therotation of the cylindrical mask DM.

In the exposure apparatus EXA shown in FIG. 17, the Y-axis of the XYZorthogonal coordinate system is set to be parallel to the rotationcenter line AX1 of the first drum member 21. Similarly, in the exposureapparatus EXA, the Y-axis of the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is setto be parallel to the rotation axis line AX2 of the rotary drum DR(second drum member).

As shown in FIG. 17, the exposure apparatus EXA includes a masksupporting device 12, an illumination mechanism IU (transfer processingpart), a projection optical system PL (transfer processing part), and acontroller 14. The exposure apparatus EXA rotationally moves thecylindrical mask DM supported by the mask supporting device 12 andconveys the substrate P through the use of the conveying device 9. Theillumination mechanism IU illuminates a part of the (illumination areaIR) of the cylindrical mask DM supported by the mask supporting device12 with an illumination light beam EL1 with uniform brightness. Theprojection optical system PL projects (transfers) an image of a patternin the illumination area IR on the cylindrical mask DM onto a part(projection area PA) of the substrate P conveyed by the conveying device9. The position on the cylindrical mask DM at which the illuminationarea IR is located is changed with the movement of the cylindrical maskDM. A position on the substrate P which is located at the projectionarea PA is changed in accordance with the movement of the substrate P.Accordingly, an image of a predetermined pattern (mask pattern) on thecylindrical mask DM is projected onto the substrate P. The controller 14controls each parts of the exposure apparatus EXA so as to cause theeach parts to perform processes. In this embodiment, the controller 14controls the conveying device 9.

The controller 14 may be a part or the whole part of the upper-levelcontroller collectively controlling plurality of processing apparatusesof the device manufacturing system. The controller 14 may be a devicewhich is controlled by the upper-level controller and which is otherthan the upper-level controller. The controller 14 includes, forexample, a computer system. The computer system includes, for example, aCPU, various memories, an OS, and hardware such as peripherals. Theoperations of the each parts of the processing apparatus 11 are storedin the form of a program in a computer-readable recording medium, andvarious processes are performed by causing the computer system to readand execute the program. The computer system includes a homepageproviding environment (or a display environment) when it can access theInternet or an intranet system. Examples of the computer-readablerecording medium include portable mediums such as a flexible disk, amagneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM and a storage device such as ahard disk built in a computer system. The computer-readable recordingmedium may include a medium that dynamically holds a program for a shorttime, like a communication line when the program is transmitted via anetwork such as the Internet or a communication circuit such as atelephone line, and a medium that holds a program for a predeterminedtime, like a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server ora client in that case. The program may be configured to realize a partof the above-mentioned functions of the processing apparatus 11 or maybe configured to realize the above-mentioned functions of the processingapparatus 11 by combination with a program recorded in advance in acomputer system. The upper-level controller can be embodied using acomputer system, similarly to the controller 14.

As shown in FIG. 17, the mask supporting device 12 includes a first drummember 21 supporting the cylindrical mask DM, a guide roller 23supporting the first drum member 21, a driving roller 24 that is used todrive the first drum member 21 by the first driving part 26 in responseto a control command of the controller 14, and a first detector 25detecting the position of the first drum member 21.

The first drum member 21 is a cylindrical member having a curved surfacecurved with a constant radius from a rotation center line AX1(hereinafter, referred to as first center line AX1) serving as apredetermined axis and rotates around the predetermined axis. The firstdrum member 21 forms a first surface P1 on which the illumination areaIR is located on the cylindrical mask DM. In this embodiment, the firstsurface P1 includes a surface (hereinafter, referred to as cylindricalsurface) which is obtained by rotating a segment (generating line) aboutan axis (first center line AX1) parallel to the segment. The cylindricalsurface is, for example, an outer circumferential surface of a cylinderor an outer circumferential surface of a column. The first drum member21 is formed of, for example, glass or quartz and has a cylindricalshape with a constant thickness, and the outer circumferential surface(cylindrical surface) thereof forms the first surface P1.

That is, in this embodiment, the illumination area IR on the cylindricalmask DM is curved in a cylindrical surface shape having a constantradius r1 from the rotation center line AX1. In this way, the first drummember 21 includes a curved surface curved with a constant radius fromthe rotation center line AX1 as a predetermined axis. The first drummember 21 can be driven by the driving roller 24 to rotate about therotation axis line AX1 as the predetermined axis.

The cylindrical mask DM is formed as a transmissive planar sheet mask inwhich a pattern is formed as a light-shielding layer of chromium or thelike, for example, on one surface of a strip-shaped ultrathin glassplate with good flatness (for example, with a thickness of 100 μm to 500μm).

The mask supporting device 12 curves the cylindrical mask DM along thecurved surface of the outer circumferential surface of the first drummember 21, and the cylindrical mask is used in a state where thecylindrical mask is wound around (attached to) the curved surface. Thecylindrical mask DM has a non-pattern-formed area in which no pattern isformed and is attached to the first drum member 21 in thenon-pattern-formed area. The cylindrical mask DM can be released fromthe first drum member 21.

Instead of forming the cylindrical mask DM out of an ultrathin glassplate and winding the cylindrical mask DM around the first drum member21 formed of a transparent cylindrical base material, a mask pattern maybe directly drawn and formed on the outer circumferential surface of thefirst drum member 21 formed of a transparent cylindrical base materialby using a light-shielding layer of chromium or the like, therebyforming the mask pattern integrally with the outer circumferentialsurface. In this case, the first drum member 21 serves as a supportingmember of the pattern of the cylindrical mask DM.

The first detector 25 optically detects the rotational position of thefirst drum member 21 and is constituted, for example, by a rotaryencoder. The first detector 25 outputs information indicating thedetected rotational position of the first drum member 21, for example, atwo-phase signal or the like from the encoder head (encoder head part)to be described later, to the controller 14.

The first driving part 26 including an actuator such as an electricmotor adjusts a torque for rotating the driving roller 24 and a rotationspeed in response to a control signal input from the controller 14. Thecontroller 14 controls the rotational position of the first drum member21 by controlling the first driving part 26 on the basis of thedetection result from the first detector 25. The controller 14 controlsone or both of the rotational position and the rotation speed of thecylindrical mask DM supported by the first drum member 21.

The conveying device 9 includes a driving roller DR4, a first guidingmember 31, a rotary drum DR forming a second surface P2 on which theprojection area PA on the substrate P is located, a second guidingmember 33, driving rollers DR4 and DR5, a second detector 35, and asecond driving part 36.

In this embodiment, the substrate P conveyed to the driving roller DR4from the upstream side of the conveying path is conveyed to the firstguiding member 31 via the driving roller DR4. The substrate P passingthrough the first guiding member 31 is supported by the surface of acylindrical or columnar rotary drum DR with a radius of r2 and isconveyed to the second guiding member 33. The substrate P passingthrough the second guiding member 33 is conveyed to the downstream sideof the conveying path. The rotation center line AX2 of the rotary drumDR and the rotation center lines of the driving rollers DR4 and DR5 areset to be parallel with the Y-axis.

The first guiding member 31 and the second guiding member 33 adjust atension or the like acting on the substrate P in the conveying path, forexample, by moving in the conveyance direction of the substrate P. Thefirst guiding member 31 (and the driving roller DR4) and the secondguiding member 33 (and the driving roller DR5) are configured, forexample, to be movable in the width direction (the Y-axis direction) ofthe substrate P and thus can adjust the position in the Y-axis directionof the substrate P wound around the outer circumferential surface of therotary drum DR and the like. The conveying device 9 only has to conveythe substrate P along the projection area PA of the projection opticalsystem PL and the configuration of the conveying device 9 can beappropriately changed.

The rotary drum DR is a cylindrical member having a curved surfacecurved with a constant radius from a rotation axis line AX2(hereinafter, referred to as second center line AX2) serving as apredetermined axis and is a rotary drum rotating around thepredetermined axis. The rotary drum DR forms the second surface(supporting surface) P2 supporting a part of the projection area PA onthe substrate P onto which an image-forming light beam from theprojection optical system PL is projected in a circular arc shape(cylindrical shape).

In this embodiment, the rotary drum DR is a part of the conveying device9 and also serves as a supporting member (substrate stage) supportingthe substrate P as an object to be exposed. That is, the rotary drum DRmay be a part of the exposure apparatus EXA. In this way, the rotarydrum DR is rotatable about the rotation center line AX2 (hereinafter,referred to as second center line AX2), the substrate P is curved in acylindrical surface shape along the outer circumferential surface(cylindrical surface) on the rotary drum DR, and the projection area PAis located in a part of the curved portion.

In this embodiment, the rotary drum DR rotates with a torque suppliedfrom the second driving part 36 including an actuator such as anelectric motor.

The second detector 35 is constituted, for example, by a rotary encoderand optically detects the rotational position of the rotary drum DR. Thesecond detector 35 outputs information (for example, a two-phase signalfrom the encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, and EN5 to be describedlater) indicating the detected rotational position of the rotary drum DRto the controller 14. The second driving part 36 adjusts the torque forrotating the rotary drum DR in response to a control signal suppliedfrom the controller 14.

The controller 14 controls the rotational position of the rotary drum DRby controlling the second driving part 36 on the basis of the detectionresult from the second detector 35, and synchronously moves(synchronously rotates) the first drum member 21 (the cylindrical maskDM) and the rotary drum DR. A detailed configuration of the seconddetector 35 will be described later.

The exposure apparatus EXA of this embodiment is an exposure apparatuson which a so-called multi-lens type projection optical system PL isassumed to be mounted. The projection optical system PL includesplurality of projection modules that project an image of a part of thepattern on the cylindrical mask DM. For example, in FIG. 17, threeprojection modules (projection optical systems) PL1, PL3, and PL5 arearranged at constant intervals in the Y-axis direction on the left sideof the center plane P3 and three projection modules (projection opticalsystems) PL2, PL4, and PL6 are arranged at constant intervals in theY-axis direction on the right side of the center plane P3.

In such multi-lens type exposure apparatus EXA, the entire image of adesired pattern is projected by overlapping the ends in the Y-axisdirection of the areas (projection areas PA1 to PA6) exposed by theplurality of projection modules PL1 to PL6 with each other. In suchexposure apparatus EXA, even when the size in the Y-axis direction of apattern on the cylindrical mask DM increases and a substrate P with alarge width in the Y-axis direction needs to be essentially handled, theprojection modules PA and the modules on the illumination mechanism IUside corresponding to the projection modules PA only have to beadditionally provided in the Y-axis direction and thus there is a meritin that it is possible to easily cope with an increase in the size of apanel (the width of the substrate P).

The exposure apparatus EXA may not be a multi-lens type. For example,when the size in the width direction of the substrate P is small to acertain degree, the exposure apparatus EXA may project an image of theentire width of the pattern onto the substrate P using a singleprojection module. Each of the plurality of projection modules PL1 toPL6 may project a pattern corresponding to one device. That is, theexposure apparatus EXA may project a plurality of device patterns inparallel using the plurality of projection modules.

The illumination mechanism IU of this embodiment includes a light sourcedevice 13 and an illumination optical system. The illumination opticalsystem includes a plurality (for example, six) of illumination modulesIL arranged in the Y-axis direction to correspond to the plurality ofprojection modules PL1 to PL6. The light source device includes a lamplight source such as a mercury lamp or a solid light source such as alaser diode and a light-emitting diode (LED).

Examples of illumination light emitted from the light source deviceincludes bright rays (a g ray, an h ray, an i ray) emitted from a lamplight source, far-ultraviolet light (DUV light) such as a KrF excimerlaser beam (with a wavelength of 248 nm), and an ArF excimer laser beam(with a wavelength of 193 nm). The illumination light emitted from thelight source device is uniformized in illuminance distribution and isdistributed to the plurality of illumination modules IL via a lightguide member such as an optical fiber.

Each of the plurality of illumination modules IL includes plurality ofoptical members such as lenses. In this embodiment, light emitted fromthe light source device and passing through any of the plurality ofillumination modules IL is referred to as an illumination light beamEL1. Each of the plurality of illumination modules IL includes, forexample, an integrator optical system, a rod lens, and a fly-eye lensand illuminates the illumination areas IR with the illumination lightbeam EL1 with a uniform illuminance distribution. In this embodiment,the plurality of illumination modules IL are arranged inside thecylindrical mask DM. Each of the plurality of illumination modules ILilluminates the corresponding illumination area IR of the mask patternformed on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical mask DMfrom the inside of the cylindrical mask DM.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an arrangement of the illumination areas IRand the projection areas PA in this embodiment. FIG. 18 shows a planview (the left view in FIG. 18) when the illumination areas IR on thecylindrical mask DM disposed in the first drum member 21 is viewed fromthe −Z-axis side and a plan view (the right view in FIG. 18) when theprojection areas PA on the substrate P disposed on the rotary drum DRare viewed from the +Z-axis side. Reference sign Xs in FIG. 18represents the rotating direction (moving direction) of the first drummember 21 or the rotary drum DR.

The plurality of illumination modules IL illuminate the firstillumination area IR1 to the sixth illumination area IR6 on thecylindrical mask DM, respectively. For example, the first illuminationmodule IL illuminates the first illumination area IR1 and the secondillumination module IL illuminates the second illumination area IR2.

The first illumination area IR1 is defined as a trapezoidal area whichis thin and long in the Y-axis direction. However, in a projectionoptical system having a configuration for forming an intermediate imageplane like a projection optical system (projection module) PL, since afield diaphragm plate having a trapezoidal opening can be disposed atthe position of the intermediate image plane, the illumination area maybe a rectangular area including the trapezoidal opening. The thirdillumination area IR3 and the fifth illumination area IR5 are areashaving the same shape as the first illumination area IR1 and arearranged at constant intervals in the Y-axis direction.

The second illumination area IR2 is a trapezoidal (or rectangular) areawhich is symmetric about the center plane P3 with the first illuminationarea IR1. The fourth illumination area IR4 and the sixth illuminationarea IR6 are areas having the second illumination area IR2 and arearranged at constant intervals in the Y-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 18, the first to sixth illumination areas IR1 to IR6are arranged so that triangular parts of oblique side parts of theneighboring trapezoidal areas overlap with each other when viewed in thecircumferential direction of the first surface P1. Accordingly, forexample, a first area A1 on the cylindrical mask DM passing through thefirst illumination area IR1 with the rotation of the first drum member21 partially overlaps with a second area A2 on the cylindrical mask DMpassing through the second illumination area IR2 with the rotation ofthe first drum member 21.

In this embodiment, the cylindrical mask DM includes a pattern-formedarea A3 in which a pattern is formed and a non-pattern-formed area A4 inwhich a pattern is not formed. The non-pattern-formed area A4 isarranged to surround the pattern-formed area A3 in a frame shape and hasa characteristic blocking an illumination light beam EL1.

The pattern-formed area A3 of the cylindrical mask DM moves in thedirection Xs with the rotation of the first drum member 21 and thepartial areas in the Y-axis direction in the pattern-formed area A3 passthrough any of the first to sixth illumination areas IR1 to IR6. Inother words, the first to sixth illumination areas IR1 to IR6 arearranged to cover the entire width in the Y-axis direction of thepattern-formed area A3.

As shown in FIG. 17, the plurality of projection modules PL1 to PL6arranged in the Y-axis direction correspond to the first to sixthillumination modules IL in a one-to-one correspondence manner. An imageof a partial pattern of the cylindrical mask DM appearing in theillumination area IR illuminated by the corresponding illuminationmodule IL is projected onto the corresponding projection area PA on thesubstrate P.

For example, the first projection module PL1 corresponds to the firstillumination module IL and projects an image of a pattern of thecylindrical mask DM in the first illumination area IR1 (see FIG. 18)illuminated by the first illumination module IL onto the firstprojection area PA1 on the substrate P. The third projection module PL3and the fifth projection module PL5 correspond to the third illuminationmodule IL and the fifth illumination module IL, respectively. The thirdprojection module PL3 and the fifth projection module PL5 are arrangedat positions overlapping with the first projection module PL1 whenviewed in the Y-axis direction.

The second projection module PL2 corresponds to the second illuminationmodule IL and projects an image of a pattern of the cylindrical mask DMin the second illumination area IR2 (see FIG. 18) illuminated by thesecond illumination module IL onto the second projection area PA2 on thesubstrate P. The second projection module PL2 is arranged at a positionabout the center plane P3 with the first projection module PL1 whenviewed in the Y-axis direction.

The fourth projection module PL4 and the sixth projection module PL6correspond to the fourth illumination module IL and the sixthillumination module IL, respectively. The fourth projection module PL4and the sixth projection module PL6 are arranged at positionsoverlapping with the second projection module PL2 when viewed in theY-axis direction.

In this embodiment, light traveling from the illumination module IL ofthe illumination mechanism IU to the illumination areas IR1 to IR6 onthe cylindrical mask DM is defined as an illumination light beam EL1.Light modulated in intensity distribution based on the partial patternsof the cylindrical mask DM appearing in the illumination areas IR1 toIR6, made incident on the projection modules PL1 to PL6, and arriving atthe projection areas PA1 to PA6 is defined as an image-forming lightbeam EL2.

As shown in FIG. 17, principal rays passing through the center points ofthe projection areas PA1 to PA6 out of the image-forming light beams EL2arriving at the projection areas PA1 to PA6 are arranged at position(specific positions) of angle θ in the circumferential direction withthe center plane P3 when viewed in the direction of the second centerline AX2 of the rotary drum DR.

As shown in FIG. 18, an image of a pattern in the first illuminationarea IR1 is projected onto the first projection area PA1, an image of apattern in the third illumination area IR3 is projected onto the thirdprojection area PA3, and an image of a pattern in the fifth illuminationarea IR5 is projected onto the fifth projection area PA5. In thisembodiment, the first projection area PA1, the third projection areaPA3, and the fifth projection area PA5 are arranged in a line in theY-axis direction.

An image of a pattern in the second illumination area IR2 is projectedonto the second projection area PA2. In this embodiment, the secondprojection area PA2 is arranged to be symmetric about the center planeP3 with the first projection area PA1 when viewed in the Y-axisdirection. An image of a pattern in the fourth illumination area IR4 isprojected onto the fourth projection area PA4 and an image of a patternin the sixth illumination area IR6 is projected onto the sixthprojection area PA6. In this embodiment, the second projection area PA2,the fourth projection area PA4, and the sixth projection area PA6 arearranged in a line in the Y-axis direction.

The first projection area PA1 to the sixth projection area PA6 arearranged so that the ends (the triangular parts of the trapezoid) of theneighboring projection areas (the odd-numbered projection areas and theeven-numbered projection areas) in a direction parallel to the secondcenter line AX2 overlap with each other when viewed in thecircumferential direction of the second surface P2.

Accordingly, a third area A5 on the substrate P passing through thefirst projection area PA1 with the rotation of the rotary drum DRpartially overlaps with a fourth area A6 on the substrate P passingthrough the second projection area PA2 with the rotation of the rotarydrum DR. The shapes of the first projection area PA1 and the secondprojection area PA2 are set so that the exposure amount in the area inwhich the third area A5 and the fourth area A6 overlap is substantiallyequal to the exposure amount in which the areas do not overlap. In thisway, the first projection area PA1 to the sixth projection area PA6 arearranged to cover the entire width in the Y-axis direction of theexposure area A7 to be exposed on the substrate P.

The detailed configuration of the projection optical system PL accordingto this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 19. In thisembodiment, each of the second projection module PL2 to the fifthprojection module PL5 has the same configuration as the first projectionmodule PL1. Accordingly, the configuration of the first projectionmodule PL1 will be described representatively of the projection opticalsystem PL and a description of the second projection module PL2 to thefifth projection module PL5 will not be repeated.

The first projection module PL1 shown in FIG. 19 includes a firstoptical system 41 that forms an image of a pattern of the cylindricalmask DM arranged in the first illumination area IR1 on the intermediateimage plane P7, a second optical system 42 that re-forms at least a partof the intermediate image formed by the first optical system 41 in thefirst projection area PA1 of the substrate P. and a first fielddiaphragm 43 that is disposed on the intermediate image plane P7 onwhich the intermediate image is formed.

The first projection module PL1 includes a focus correcting opticalmember 44, an image shift correcting optical member 45, a rotationcorrecting mechanism 46, and a magnification correcting optical member47.

The focus correcting optical member 44 is a focus adjusting devicefinely adjusting a focused state of a mask pattern image (hereinafter,referred to as projection image) formed on the substrate P. The imageshift correcting optical member 45 is a shift adjusting device finelyhorizontally shifting the projection image on the image plane. Themagnification correcting optical member 47 is a shift adjusting devicefinely correcting the magnification of the projection image. Therotation correcting mechanism 46 is a shift adjusting device finelyrotating the projection image in the image plane.

The image-forming light beam EL2 from the pattern of the cylindricalmask DM is emitted in the normal direction (D1) from the firstillumination area IR1, passes through the focus correcting opticalmember 44, and is made incident on the image shift correcting opticalmember 45. The image-forming light beam EL2 passing through the imageshift correcting optical member 45 is reflected at a first reflectionsurface (planar mirror) p4 of a first deflection member 50 which is anelement of the first optical system 41, passes through a first lensgroup 51, is reflected at a first concave mirror 52, passes through thefirst lens group 51 again, is reflected at a second reflection surface(planar mirror) p5 of the first deflection member 50, and is madeincident on a first field diaphragm 43.

The image-forming light beam EL2 passing through the first fielddiaphragm 43 is reflected at a third reflection surface (planar mirror)p8 of a second deflection member 57 which is an element of the secondoptical system 42, passes through a second lens group 58, is reflectedat a second concave mirror 59, passes through the second lens group 58again, is reflected at a fourth reflection surface (planar mirror) p9 ofthe second deflection member 57, and is then made incident on themagnification correcting optical member 47. The image-forming light beamEL2 emitted from the magnification correcting optical member 47 is madeincident on the first projection area PA1 on the substrate P and theimage of the pattern appearing in the first illumination area IR1 isprojected onto the first projection area PA1 at an equal magnification(×1).

As shown in FIG. 17, when the radius of the cylindrical mask DM isdefined r1, the radius of the cylindrical surface of the substrate Pwound around the rotary drum DR is defined as r2, and the radius r1 andthe radius r2 are set to be equal to each other, the principal ray ofthe image-forming light beam EL2 at the mask side of each of theprojection modules PL1 to PL6 is inclined so as to pass through thecenter line AX1 of the cylindrical mask DM, but the inclination anglethereof is equal to the inclination angle θ (±θ about the center planeP3) of the principal ray of the image-forming light beam EL2 at thesubstrate side.

The angle θ3 formed by a third reflection surface p8 of a seconddeflection member 57 and a second optical axis AX4 is substantiallyequal to the angle θ2 formed by a second reflection surface p5 of afirst deflection member 50 and a first optical axis AX3. The angle θ4formed by a fourth reflection surface p9 of a second deflection member57 and the second optical axis AX4 is substantially equal to the angleθ1 formed by a first reflection surface p4 of the first deflectionmember 50 and the first optical axis AX3. In order to give suchinclination angle θ, the angle θ1 of the first reflection surface p4 ofthe first deflection member 50 shown in FIG. 19 about the optical axisAX3 is set to be smaller by Δθ1 than 45° and the angle θ4 of the fourthreflection surface p9 of the second deflection member 57 about theoptical axis AX4 is set to be smaller by Δθ4 than 45°. Δθ1 and Δθ4 areset to have a relationship of Δθ1=Δ4=θ/2 with the angle θ shown in FIG.17.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the rotary drum applied to theprocessing apparatus (exposure apparatus) shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 21 is aperspective view showing a relationship between the detection probes andthe reading devices applied to the processing apparatus (exposureapparatus) shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the positionsof the reading devices when the scale disk SD according to the seventhembodiment is viewed in the direction of the rotation center line AX2.In FIG. 20, for the purpose of convenience of explanation, only thesecond projection area PA2 to the fourth projection area PA4 are shownand the first projection area PA1, the fifth projection area PA5, andthe sixth projection area PA6 are not shown.

The second detector 35 shown in FIG. 17 optically detects the rotationalposition of the rotary drum DR and includes a scale disk SD (the scalemember) with high roundness and encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, andEN5 (the encoder head part).

The scale disk SD is fixed to an end of the rotary drum DR so as to beperpendicular to the rotation shaft ST. According, the scale disk SDrotates along with the rotation shaft ST about the rotation center lineAX2. A scale portion GP is carved on the outer circumferential surfaceof the scale disk SD.

The scale portion GP has grid-like scales arranged in a ring shape, forexample, with a pitch of 20 μm along the circumferential direction inwhich the rotary drum DR rotates, and rotates about the rotation shaftST (the second center line AX2) together with the rotary drum DR. Theencoder heads EN1, EN2. EN3, EN4, and EN5 are arranged around the scaleportion GP when viewed from the direction of the rotation shaft ST (thesecond center line AX2).

The encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, and EN5 are disposed to face thescale portion GP and can read the variation in position in thecircumferential direction of the scale portion GP in a non-contactingmanner, for example, with a resolution of about 0.1 μm by projecting alaser beam (with a diameter of about 1 mm) to the scale portion GP andphoto-electrically detecting a reflected and diffracted beam from thegrid-like scales. The encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, and EN5 arearranged at different positions in the circumferential direction of therotary drum DR.

The encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, and EN5 are reading devices havingmeasurement sensitivity (detection sensitivity) to displacement in atangential direction (in the XZ plane) of the scale portion GP. As shownin FIG. 20, when the installation azimuths (angle directions in the XZplane about the rotation center line AX2) of the encoder heads EN1, EN2,EN3. EN4, and EN5 are denoted by installation azimuth lines Le1, Le2,Le3, Le4, and Le5, the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 are arranged so thatthe installation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2 are ±θ° with respect to thecenter plane P3 as shown in FIG. 22.

In this embodiment, the angle θ is set to 15°. The installation azimuthlines Le1 to Le5 pass through the projection positions on the scaleportion GP of the laser beam (with a width of about 1 mm) projected fromthe encoder heads EN1 to EN5.

The projection modules PL1 to PL6 shown in FIG. 19 are processing partsof the exposure apparatus EXA performing an irradiation process ofirradiating the substrate P with light with the substrate P as an objectto be processed. The exposure apparatus EXA causes the principal rays oftwo image-forming light beams EL2 to be incident on the substrate P.

The projection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5 serve as a first processingpart and the projection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6 serve as a secondprocessing part. Each positions at which the principal rays of twoimage-forming light beams EL2 are made incident on the substrate P withrespect to the substrate P are specific positions at which theirradiation process of irradiating the substrate P with light isperformed. The specific positions are positions at angles±θ in thecircumferential direction with respect to the center plane P3 on thecurved substrate P on the rotary drum DR when viewed from the secondcenter line AX2 of the rotary drum DR.

The installation azimuth line Le1 of the encoder head EN1 matches theinclination angle θ of the principal ray passing through the centerpoints of the projection areas (projection fields) PA1, PA3, and PA5 ofthe odd-numbered projection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5 about the centerplane P3. The installation azimuth line Le2 of the encoder head EN2matches the inclination angle θ of the principal ray passing through thecenter points of the projection areas (projection fields) PA2, PA4, andPA6 of the even-numbered projection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6 about thecenter plane P3. Accordingly, the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 serve as thereading devices reading the scale portion GP located in the directionconnecting the specific positions and the second center line AX2.

As shown in FIG. 22, the encoder head EN4 is disposed on the upstreamside in the conveyance direction of the substrate P, that is, on thepreceding side of the exposure position (projection area). The encoderhead EN4 is set in the installation azimuth line Le4, which is obtainedby rotating the installation azimuth line Le1 of the encoder head EN1substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX2 to the upstreamside in the conveyance direction of the substrate P. The encoder headEN5 is set in the installation azimuth line Le5, which is obtained byrotating the installation azimuth line Le2 of the encoder head EN2substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX2 to the upstreamside in the conveyance direction of the substrate P.

As described above, for example, the measurement direction of the scaleportion GP by the encoder head EN4 is a direction parallel to theinstallation azimuth line Le1, that is, the direction of the principalray of the image-forming light beam EL2 from the odd-numbered projectionmodules PL1, PL3, and PL5. That is, the measurement direction of thescale portion GP by the encoder head EN4 is also the direction in whicha variation in the focusing direction of the substrate P with respect tothe best image-forming surface of the projection modules PL1, PL3, andPL5. Accordingly, the measured read value of the encoder head EN4includes a component indicating that the scale disk SD finely moves inthe direction parallel to the installation azimuth line Le1 as a wholedue to shaft displacement, eccentricity, rattle, or the like of therotation center line AX2 (the rotary drum DR).

Similarly, the measured read value of the encoder head EN5 includes afine movement component in the focusing direction of the substrate Pwith respect to the best image-forming surface of the even-numberedprojection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6.

The magnitude of the fine movement component depends on mechanicalprocessing accuracy or assembly accuracy and is considered to be±several μm to several tens of μm. Accordingly, it is assumed that thefine movement component of the scale disk SD (the rotary drum DR) in thedirection parallel to the installation azimuth line Le1 is measuredwithin an error range of ±10% by the encoder head EN4 (or EN5). In thiscase, the angle formed by the installation azimuth line Le4 (or Le5) ofthe encoder head EN4 (or EN5) and the installation azimuth line Le1 (orLe2) of the encoder head EN1 (or EN2) is set to be within a range of90°γ, where the angle γ is in a range of 0°≤γ≤5.8°. That is, in thisembodiment, substantially 900 means a range of 84.2° to 95.8°.

By setting the angle to this range, the directions of the installationazimuth lines Le4 and Le5 in which the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 readingthe scale portion GP are arranged are in the range substantiallyperpendicular to the direction in which the principal ray of theimage-forming light beam EL2 is made incident on the specific positionof the substrate P when viewed in the XZ plane and from the direction ofthe rotation center line AX2.

Accordingly, even when the rotary drum DR is shifted in the Z-axisdirection due to a slight rattle (about 2 μm to 3 μm) of the bearingsupporting the rotation shaft ST, it is possible to measure anpositional error (focus variation), which can occur in the projectionareas PA1 to PA6 by the shift, in the direction parallel to theimage-forming light beam EL2 with high accuracy by the use of theencoder heads EN4 and EN5 and to measure the position in thecircumferential direction with high accuracy by the use of the encoderheads EN1 and EN2.

The encoder head EN3 is set in the installation azimuth line Le3 whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le2 of the encoderhead EN2 substantially by 120° about the rotation center line AX2 androtating the installation azimuth line Le4 of the encoder head EN4substantially by 120° about the rotation center line AX2. Here,substantially 120° means a range of 120°±γ, where the angle γ is in arange of 0°≤γ≤5.8.

The scale disk SD as the scale member is manufactured with a diameter aslarge as possible (for example, a diameter of 20 cm or more) so as toenhance the measurement resolution using metal with a low thermalexpansion coefficient, glass, ceramics, or the like as a base material.In FIG. 20, the diameter of the scale disk SD is shown to be smallerthan the diameter of the rotary drum DR. However, a so-calledmeasurement Abbe error can be further reduced by causing the diameter ofthe scale portion GP of the scale disk SD to match (to be almost equalto) the diameter of the outer circumferential surface around which thesubstrate P is wound in the outer circumferential surface of the rotarydrum DR. More strictly, it is preferable to set the sum of the radius ofthe outer circumferential surface of the rotary drum DR and thethickness (for example, 100 μm) of the substrate P to be equal to theradius of the scale portion GP of the scale disk SD.

The minimum pitch of the scales (grids) caved in the circumferentialdirection of the scale portion GP is limited by the performance of ascale carving device configured to process the scale disk SD or thelike. Accordingly, when the diameter of the scale disk SD is set to belarge, the angle measurement resolution corresponding to the minimumpitch can be accordingly enhanced.

The directions of the installation azimuth lines Le1 and Le2 in whichthe encoder heads EN1 and EN2 for reading the scale portion GP arearranged are set to be equal to the directions in which the principalrays of the image-forming light beams EL2 are made incident on thesubstrate P when viewed from the rotation center line AX2. Accordingly,even when the rotary drum DR is shifted in the X-axis direction due to aslight rattle (about 2 μm to 3 μm) of a bearing supporting the rotationshaft ST, a positional error in the conveyance direction (Xs) of thesubstrate P which can be generated in the projection areas PA1 to PA6can be measured with high accuracy by the use of the encoder heads EN1and EN2.

As shown in FIG. 21, alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 (alignmentsystem) for detecting alignment marks and the like formed in advance onthe substrate P are provided in a part of the substrate P supported onthe curved surface of the rotary drum DR so as to relatively align thesubstrate P with an image of a part of the mask pattern projected by theprojection optical system PL shown in FIG. 17.

Each of the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 is a pattern detectingdevice that is arranged around the rotary drum DR so that a detectionprobe for detecting a specific pattern formed discretely or continuouslyon the substrate P and a detection area obtained by the detection probeare set at the rear side (upstream side) in the conveyance direction ofthe substrate P from the above-mentioned specific position.

As shown in FIG. 21, each of the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2includes a plurality (for example, four) of detection probes arranged ina line in the Y-axis direction (the width direction of the substrate P).Each of the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 can normally observe ordetect alignment marks formed in the vicinity of both ends of thesubstrate P by the use of the detection probes at both ends in theY-axis direction of the rotary drum DR. Each of the alignmentmicroscopes AMG1 and AMG2 can observe or detect alignment marks formed,for example, in margins and the like between pattern-forming areas ofplurality of display panels formed in the length direction on thesubstrate P by the use of the detection probes different from thedetection probes at both ends in the Y-axis direction (the widthdirection of the substrate P) of the rotary drum DR.

As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the encoder head EN4 is disposed in theinstallation azimuth line Le4 set in the radial direction of the scaleportion GP so as to be parallel to the observation direction AM1 (thedetection center line directed to the second center line AX2) of thesubstrate P by the alignment microscope AMG1 when viewed in the XZ planeand from the direction of the rotation center line AX2.

That is, the alignment system is disposed so that the position in thecircumferential direction of the alignment mark detection area of thealignment microscope AMG1 matches the position in the circumferentialdirection at which the encoder head EN4 reads the scales.

The encoder head EN5 is disposed in the installation azimuth line Le5set in the radial direction of the scale portion GP so as to be parallelto the observation direction AM2 (the detection center line directed tothe second center line AX2) of the substrate P by the alignmentmicroscope AMG2 when viewed in the XZ plane and from the direction ofthe rotation center line AX2.

That is, the alignment system is disposed so that the position in thecircumferential direction of the alignment mark detection area of thealignment microscope AMG2 matches the position in the circumferentialdirection at which the encoder head EN5 reads the scales.

In this way, the detection probes of the alignment microscopes AMG1 andAMG2 are arranged around the rotary drum DR when viewed from thedirection of the second center line AX2, and arranged so that thedirections (the installation azimuth lines Le4 and Le5) connecting thepositions at which the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 and the second centerline AX2 match the directions connecting the detection areas of thealignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 and the second center line AX2.

The positions in the circumferential direction about the rotation centerline AX2 at which the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 and theencoder heads EN4 and EN5 are arranged are set between a sheetapproaching area IA in which the substrate P starts contacting therotary drum DR and a sheet separation area OA in which the substrate Pis separated from the rotary drum DR.

The alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 are arranged before the exposureposition (projection area PA), detects an image of alignment marks(which are formed in an area of several tens of μm square to severalhundreds of μm square) formed in the vicinity of ends in the Y-axisdirection of the substrate P at a high speed by the use of an imagingdevice or the like in a state where the substrate P is conveyed at apredetermined speed, and samples the images of the marks in a microscopefield (imaging range) at a high speed. By storing the rotation angleposition of the scale disk SD which is sequentially measured by theencoder head EN4 (or EN5) at the instant of sampling, the correspondencebetween the mark position on the substrate P and the rotation angle ofthe rotary drum DR is calculated.

When the mark detected by the alignment microscope AMG1 is detected bythe alignment microscope AMG2, the difference value between the angleposition measured and stored by the encoder head EN4 and the angleposition measured and stored by the encoder head EN5 is compared with areference value corresponding to an opening angle of the installationazimuth lines Le4 and Le5 of two alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2accurately calibrated in advance. As a result, when there is differencebetween the difference value and the reference value, there is apossibility that the substrate P slightly slides on the rotary drum DRor expands or contracts in the conveyance direction (circumferentialdirection) between the sheet approaching area IA and the sheetseparation area OA.

In general, the positional error at the time of patterning is determineddepending on fineness or overlap accuracy of device patterns formed onthe substrate P. For example, in order to accurately overlap and exposean underlying pattern layer with a line pattern with a width of 10 μm,only an error of one over several thereof, that is, a positional errorof about ±2 μm in terms of the size on the substrate P, is allowed.

In order to realize such high-accuracy measurement, the measuringdirection (the tangential direction of the outer circumference of therotary drum DR in the XZ plane) of a mark image by the alignmentmicroscopes AMG1 and AMG2 and the measuring direction (the tangentialdirection of the outer circumference of the scale portion GP in the XZplane) by the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 need to be matched within anallowable angle error.

As described above, the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 are arranged so as tomatch the measuring directions (the tangential direction of thecircumferential surface of the rotary drum DR) of an alignment mark onthe substrate P by the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2. Accordingly,even when the rotary drum DR (the scale disk SD) is shifted in thecircumferential direction (the tangential direction) perpendicular tothe installation azimuth line Le4 or Le5 in the XZ plane at the time ofdetecting the position (sampling the image) of the substrate P (mark) bythe use of the alignment microscope AMG1 and AMG2, it is possible tomeasure a position with high accuracy in consideration of the shift ofthe rotary drum DR.

Since the encoder heads EN1 to EN5 are arranged at five positions aroundthe scale portion GP of the scale disk SD when viewed from the directionof the second center line AX2, it is possible to calculate roundness(deformation), an eccentric error, and the like of the scale portion GPof the scale disk SD by combining and calculating the outputs of thevalues measured by two or three appropriate encoder heads thereof. Acase where the displacement in a specific direction in the XZ plane ofthe rotary drum DR is calculated by a calculation process by combiningthe outputs of the measured values by two or three or more encoder headswill be described below with reference to FIGS. 23, 24, and 25.

First Calculation Process Example

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a displacement of the rotary drum DR whenthe scale disk SD is viewed in the direction of the rotation center lineAX2 according to the seventh embodiment. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing anexample of calculating the displacement of the rotary drum DR when thescale disk SD is viewed in the direction of the rotation center line AX2according to the seventh embodiment. FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing anexample of a process flow of correcting a process of the processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) according to the seventh embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 23, for example, the rotary drum DR is shifted togetherwith the scale disk SD due to a slight rattle of the bearing supportingthe rotation shaft ST and the scale disk SD is shifted from the positionindicated by a dotted line to the position indicated by a solid line inFIG. 23. The position AX2′ of the rotation shaft ST of the rotary drumDR moves from the rotation center line AX2 (the second center line AX2).For example, the encoder head EN1 reads the position PX1 of the scaleportion GP located in the direction connecting the second center lineAX2 to a specific position before the scale disk SD is shifted. When thescale disk SD is shifted from the position indicated by the dotted lineto the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 23, the position PX1of the scale portion GP moves to the position TX1 of the scale portionGP, as shown in FIG. 24.

After the scale disk SD is shifted, the encoder head EN1 reads theposition QX1 of the scale portion GP located in the direction connectingthe second center line AX2 to the specific position. Accordingly, in theXZ plane, a displacement component Δqx1 in the direction connecting theposition QX1 of the scale portion GP and the rotation center line AX2 ofthe rotary drum DR is generated. When the angle formed by thedisplacement at the time of moving from the rotation center line AX2(the second center line AX2) to the position AX2′ of the rotation shaftST of the rotary drum DR and the direction connecting the position QX1of the scale portion GP to the rotation center line AX2 of the rotarydrum DR is defined as a displacement angle α, the displacement componentΔqx1 is equal to a displacement obtained by multiplying the displacementfrom the rotation center line AX2 (the second center line AX2) to theposition AX2 of the rotation shaft ST of the rotary drum DR by cos α.

For example, when the first reading device is the encoder head EN4 andthe second reading device is the encoder head EN1, the controller 14 ofthe exposure apparatus EXA causes the encoder head EN4 and the encoderhead EN1 to measure the rotational position (step S11) and stores theoutputs of the measured value (the reading output of the scale portionGP) from the encoder head EN4 and the encoder head EN1, as shown in FIG.25.

The encoder head EN4 and the encoder head EN1 can measure a variation indisplacement in the tangential direction (in the XZ plane) of the scaleportion GP. Since the scale disk SD is shifted from the positionindicated by the dotted line to the position indicated by the solid linein FIG. 23, the encoder head EN4 shown in FIG. 23 reads the position QX4of the scale portion GP instead of the position PX4 of the scale portionGP. Accordingly, the angle formed by the tangential direction Veq4 atthe position PX4 of the scale portion GP and the tangential directionVeq4′ at the position QX4 of the scale portion GP, that is, thedisplacement angle α, is caused. As a result, the circumferential speedread by the encoder head EN4 as the first reading device is changed.

For example, when there is no difference between the circumferentialspeed read by the encoder head EN1 and the circumferential speed read bythe encoder head EN4, the controller 14 determines that thecircumferential speed does not vary (NO in step S12) and continues toperform step S11 of measuring the rotational position, as shown in FIG.25. When there is a difference between the circumferential speed read bythe encoder head EN1 and the circumferential speed read by the encoderhead EN4, the controller 14 determines that the circumferential speedvaries (YES in step S12) and moves the process flow to step S13.

The controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXA calculates a correctionvalue on the basis of the reading output of the encoder head EN4 whichis the first reading device (step S13). When viewed in the XZ plane andfrom the direction of the rotation center line AX2, the direction of theinstallation azimuth line Le4 in which the encoder head EN4 is disposedis substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the principalray of the image-forming light beam EL2 is made incident on a specificposition of the substrate P. Accordingly, the variation in the readingoutput of the encoder head EN4 has a constant relationship with thevariation in the direction along the principal ray of the image-forminglight beam EL2 projected from the odd-numbered projection modules PL1,PL3, and PL5.

For example, the controller 14 stores a database in which the variationin the reading output of the encoder head EN4 is correlated with thedisplacement angle α in the storage part. Then, the controller 14 givesthe input of the reading output of the encoder head EN4 which is thefirst reading device to the database stored in the storage part of thecontroller 14 and calculates the displacement angle α. The controller 14calculates the displacement component Δqx1 from the calculateddisplacement angle α and calculates the correction value for correctingthe focused state of the projection image on the basis of thedisplacement component Δqx1. Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXAaccording to this embodiment can suppress a calculation load, detect theposition of the rotary drum DR (the cylindrical member, the rotarycylindrical body) with high accuracy, and process an object located onthe curved surface of the rotary drum DR, that is, the substrate P.

The controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXA performs a correctionprocess on the basis of the correction value calculated in step S13(step S14). For example, the controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXAoperates the focus correcting optical member 44 shown in FIG. 19 as thefocus adjusting device to finely adjust the focused state of theprojection image formed on the substrate P by the odd-numberedprojection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5. Accordingly, the exposureapparatus EXA can perform an exposure process on the substrate P withhigh accuracy.

Similarly, when the first reading device is the encoder head EN5 and thesecond reading device is the encoder head EN2, the controller 14 of theexposure apparatus EXA causes the encoder head EN5 and the encoder headEN2 to measure the rotational position (step S11) and stores the outputof the measured value (the reading output of the scale portion GP) fromthe encoder head EN5 and the encoder head EN2, as shown in FIG. 25.

For example, the encoder head EN2 reads the position PX2 of the scaleportion GP located in the direction connecting the specific position tothe second center line AX2 before the scale disk SD is shifted. Then,after the scale disk SD is shifted, the encoder head EN2 reads theposition QX2 of the scale portion GP located in the direction connectingthe second center line AX2 to the specific position. The position QX2 ofthe scale portion GP and the position PX2 of the scale portion GP aresubstantially equal to the position in the direction parallel to theinstallation azimuth line Le2 and parallel to the image-forming lightbeam EL2 projected from the even-numbered projection modules PL2, PL4,and PL6 as shown in FIG. 23.

As shown in FIG. 23, since the scale disk SD is shifted from theposition indicated by the dotted line to the position indicated by thesolid line in FIG. 23, the encoder head EN5 reads the position QX5 ofthe scale portion GP instead of the position PX5 of the scale portionGP. However, the tangential direction Veq5 at the position PX5 of thescale portion GP and the tangential direction Veq5′ at the position PX5of the scale portion GP are substantially parallel to each other. As aresult, the circumferential speed read by the encoder head EN4 as thefirst reading device is not changed. The controller 14 determines thatthe circumferential speed does not vary (NO in step S12) and continuesto perform step S11 of measuring the rotational position.

As described above, when two encoder heads are arranged at an intervalof substantially 90° around the scale portion GP, it is possible tomeasure a two-dimensional fine movement of the scale disk SD (scaleportion GP) in the XZ plane. In FIG. 23, the two-dimensional finemovement occurs, for example, in two directions of the direction(substantially the Z-axis direction) in which the installation azimuthline Le2 of the encoder head EN2 extends and the direction(substantially the X-axis direction) in which the installation azimuthline Le5 of the encoder head EN5 extends. Accordingly, when the rotarydrum DR is eccentric in the direction in which the installation azimuthline Le5 extends, the fine movement component of the scale disk SD(scale portion GP) due to the eccentricity can be measured by theencoder head EN2.

However, since the encoder head EN2 measures the displacement in thecircumferential direction of the scale portion GP due to the rotation ofthe scale disk SD at the position of the installation azimuth line Le2,the fine movement component due to the eccentricity of the scale disk SDand the displacement component due to the rotation may not bedistinguishably understood well from the solitary measured read valuesof the encoder head EN2. In this case, a technique of increasing thenumber of encoder heads and distinguishably measuring the fine movementcomponent due to the eccentricity of the scale disk SD and thedisplacement component due to the rotation may be used. This techniquewill be described later.

As described above, the exposure apparatus EXA includes the rotary drumDR as the cylindrical member, the scale portion GP, the projectionmodules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part of the exposure apparatus EXA,the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 as the first reading device reading thescale portion GP, and the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 as the secondreading device reading the scale portion GP.

The rotary drum DR has a curved surface curved with a constant radiusfrom the second center line AX2 as a predetermined axis and rotatesabout the second center line AX2.

The scale portion GP is arranged in a ring shape along thecircumferential direction in which the rotary drum DR rotates androtates about the second center line AX2 along with the rotary drum DR.

The projection modules PL1 to PL6 as the processing parts of theexposure apparatus EX1 are arranged around the rotary drum DR whenviewed from the direction of the second center line AX2, and perform theirradiation process of irradiating the substrate P (object to beprocessed) located on the curved surface at the specific position in thecircumferential direction of the rotary drum DR with the principal rayof the two image-forming light beams EL2.

The encoder heads EN4 and EN5 are arranged around the scale portion GPwhen viewed from the direction of the second center line AX2, and aredisposed at the positions obtained by rotating the specific positionsubstantially by 90 degrees about the second center line AX2 withrespect to the second center line AX2, and read the scale portion GP.

The encoder heads EN1 and EN2 read the scale portion GP at the specificposition.

The projection modules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part of the exposureapparatus EXA performs a process of correcting the displacement when thesecond center line AX2 of the rotary drum DR moves in the directionperpendicular to the second center line AX2 using the reading outputs ofthe encoder heads EN4 and EN5 as the first reading device.

Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA according to this embodiment cansuppress the calculation load, detect the position of the rotary drum DR(the cylindrical member) with high accuracy, and process an object, thatis, the substrate P, located on the curved surface of the rotary drumDR.

Second Calculation Process Example

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing another example of the process flow ofcorrecting a process of the processing apparatus (exposure apparatus)according to the seventh embodiment. For example, when the first readingdevice is the encoder head EN4, the second reading device is the encoderhead EN1, and the third reading device is the encoder head EN3, thecontroller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXA causes the encoder head EN4,the encoder head EN1, the encoder head EN3 to measure the rotationalposition (step S21) and stores the outputs of the measured value (thereading output of the scale portion GP) from the encoder head EN4, theencoder head EN1, and the encoder head EN3 for every appropriate timeinterval (for example, several msec) as shown in FIG. 25.

The encoder head EN4, the encoder head EN1, and the encoder head EN3 canmeasure a variation in displacement in the tangential direction (in theXZ plane) of the scale portion GP. The controller 14 calculates therelative position at which the rotation shaft ST of the rotary drum DRmoves from the rotation center line AX2 (the second center line AX2),for example, the position AX2′ of the rotation shaft ST of the rotarydrum DR shown in FIG. 23, on the basis of the reading outputs (storedvalues) of the encoder head EN4, the encoder head EN1, and the encoderhead EN3 (step S22).

When a shaft difference greater than, for example, a predeterminedthreshold value is not present between the rotation center line AX2 andthe position AX2′ of the rotation shaft ST of the rotary drum DR22 (NOin step S23), the controller 14 continues to perform step S21 ofmeasuring the rotational position. When a shaft difference greater than,for example, a predetermined threshold value is present between therotation center line AX2 and the position AX2′ of the rotation shaft STof the rotary drum DR22 (YES in step S23), the controller 14 moves theprocess flow to step S24. The threshold value is determined in advanceon the basis of accuracy or the like required for the exposure processof the exposure apparatus EXA and is stored in the storage part of thecontroller 14.

Then, the controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXA calculates acorrection value on the basis of the reading output of the encoder headEN4 (step S24). When viewed in the XZ plane and from the direction ofthe rotation center line AX2, the direction of the installation azimuthline Le4 in which the encoder head EN4 reading the scale portion GP isdisposed is substantially perpendicular to the direction of theprincipal ray of the image-forming light beam EL2 projected to thesubstrate P from the odd-numbered projection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5.Accordingly, the variation in the reading output of the encoder head EN4has a constant relationship with the variation in the direction alongthe principal ray of the image-forming light beam EL2 projected from theodd-numbered projection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5.

For example, the controller 14 stores a database in which the variationin the reading output of the encoder head EN4 is correlated with thedisplacement angle α in the storage part. Then, the controller 14 givesthe input of the reading output of the encoder head EN4 as the firstreading device to the database stored in the storage part of thecontroller 14 and calculates the displacement angle α. The controller 14can calculate the displacement component Δqx1 shown in FIG. 24 from theangle α, the position AX2′ calculated in step S22, and the rotationcenter line AX2 (the second center line AX2).

The controller 14 calculates the displacement component Δqx1 andcalculates the correction value for correcting the focused state of theprojection image on the basis of the displacement component Δqx1.Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA according to this embodiment cansuppress a calculation load, detect the position of the rotary drum DR(the cylindrical member) with high accuracy, and process an objectlocated on the curved surface of the rotary drum DR, that is, thesubstrate P.

The controller 14 can calculate the displacement component Δqx4 shown inFIG. 24 from the angle α, the position AX2′ calculated in step S22, andthe rotation center line AX2. The displacement component Δqx4 is adisplacement component in the direction perpendicular to the directionconnecting the rotation center line AX2 of the rotary drum DR to theposition QX1 of the scale portion GP. Accordingly, the displacementcomponent Δqx4 is equal to a displacement obtained by multiplying thedisplacement from the rotation center line AX2 (the second center lineAX2) to the position AX2′ of the rotation shaft ST of the rotary drum DRby sin α.

The controller 14 calculates the displacement component Δqx1 andcalculates the correction value for shifting the projection image on thebasis of the displacement component Δqx4. Accordingly, the exposureapparatus EXA according to this embodiment can suppress a calculationload, detect the position of the rotary drum DR (the cylindrical member)with high accuracy, and process an object located on the curved surfaceof the rotary drum DR, that is, the substrate P.

The controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXA performs a correctionprocess on the basis of the correction value calculated in step S24(step S25). For example, the controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXAoperates the focus correcting optical member 44 shown in FIG. 19 as thefocus adjusting device to finely adjust the focused state of theprojection image formed on the substrate P so as to cancel thedisplacement component Δqx1. Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA canperform an exposure process on the substrate P with high accuracy.

For example, the controller 14 of the exposure apparatus EXA operates atleast one of the image shift correcting optical member 45 configured tofinely horizontally shift the projection image in the image plane asshown in FIG. 19, the magnification correcting optical member 47configured to finely correct the magnification of the projection image,and the rotation correcting mechanism 46 configured to finely rotate theprojection image in the image plane, which are the shift adjustingdevices to shift the projection image formed on the substrate P so as tocancel the displacement component Δqx4.

Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA can perform an exposure processon the substrate P with high accuracy. Alternatively, the controller 14may adjust the driving of the cylindrical mask DM or the driving of therotary drum DR (the second drum member) or the tension applied to thesubstrate P by the use of the shift adjusting device and perform theaccurate feedback control or feedforward control to shift the projectionimage formed on the substrate P so as to cancel the displacementcomponent Δqx4.

In this way, in this embodiment, the installation azimuth lines Le1 andLe2 of the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 arranged around the scale portionGP of the scale disk SD are set to be same with (or is matched with) theinclination directions of the principal rays of the image-forming lightbeams EL2 projected to the projection area PA on the substrate P, whenviewed from the direction of the rotation center line AX2.

Accordingly, even when the rotary drum DR is finely shifted in thescanning exposure direction (the conveyance direction) of the substrateP, it is possible to measure the degree of shift in real time by the useof the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 and to correct the variation in theexposure position due to the shift with high accuracy and at a highspeed, for example, by the use of the image shift correcting opticalmember 45 or the like in the projection optical system PL. As a result,it is possible to perform an exposure process on the substrate P withhigh positional accuracy.

As described above, the exposure apparatus EXA includes the rotary drumDR as the cylindrical member, the scale portion GP, the projectionmodules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part of the exposure apparatus EXA,the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 as the first reading device reading thescale portion GP, the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 as the second readingdevice reading the scale portion GP, and the encoder head EN3 as thethird reading device that is disposed at a position in thecircumferential direction different from the first reading device andthe second reading device and that reads the scale portion GP.

The encoder heads EN4 and EN5 are arranged around the scale portion GPwhen viewed from the direction of the second center line AX2, and aredisposed at the positions obtained by rotating the specific position byabout 90 degrees about the second center line AX2 around the secondcenter line AX2, and read the scale portion GP. The encoder heads EN1and EN2 read the scale portion GP at the specific position.

The exposure apparatus EXA calculates the second center line AX2 of therotary drum DR from the reading outputs of the scale portion GP measuredby the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 as the first reading device, theencoder heads EN1 and EN2 as the second reading device, and the encoderhead EN3 as the third reading device.

The projection modules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part performs aprocess of correcting the displacement when the second center line AX2of the rotary drum DR moves in the direction perpendicular to the secondcenter line AX2 using the reading outputs of the encoder heads EN4 andEN5 as the first reading device.

Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA according to this embodiment cansuppress the calculation load, detect the position of the rotary drum DR(the cylindrical member) with high accuracy, and process an object, thatis, the substrate P, located on the curved surface of the rotary drumDR.

By comparing the output of the measured values by the encoder heads EN5,EN2, and EN3 with the output of the measured values by the encoder headsEN4, EN1, and EN3, it is possible to suppress the influence of theeccentric error of the scale disk SD with respect to the rotation shaftST, or the like and to perform high-accuracy measurement.

The third reading device is not limited to the encoder head EN3, andwhen the encoder head EN4 is used as the first reading device and theencoder head EN1 is used as the second reading device, the third readingdevice may be the encoder head EN5 or the encoder head EN2.

As described above, in the exposure apparatus EXA, two image-forminglight beams EL2 are made incident on the substrate P. The odd-numberedprojection modules PL1, PL3, and PL5 serve as the first processing partsand the even-numbered projection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6 serve as thesecond processing parts.

Two positions at which the principal rays of the two image-forming lightbeams EL2 are made incident on the substrate P are set as a specificposition (first specific position) at which the first processing partsperform the irradiation process of irradiating the substrate P withlight and a second specific position at which the second processingparts perform the irradiation process of irradiating the substrate Pwith light, respectively.

The encoder head EN1 as the second reading device reads the scaleportion GP at the specific position (the first specific position) andthe encoder head EN2 reads the scale portion GP at the second specificposition.

The encoder head EN5 as the third reading device is disposed at aposition obtained by rotating the direction connecting the secondspecific position to the second center line AX2 substantially by 90degrees about the second center line AX2, and reads the scale portionGP.

The exposure apparatus EXA calculates the second center line AX2 of therotary drum DR from the reading outputs of the scale portion GP measuredby the encoder head EN4 as the first reading device, the encoder headEN1 as the second reading device, and the encoder head EN5 as the thirdreading device.

The projection modules PL2, PL4, and PL6 as the second processing partperforms a process of correcting the displacement when the second centerline AX2 of the rotary drum DR moves in the direction perpendicular tothe second center line AX2 using the reading outputs of the encoderheads EN4 and EN5 as the first reading device.

In this way, even when a plurality of processing parts such as the firstprocessing part and the second processing are provided, the firstprocessing part and the second processing part can perform the processeswith high accuracy.

For example, by taking the average value (simple average or weightedaverage) of the outputs of the measurement signals from the encoderheads EN1, EN2, EN3, En4, and EN5 at the time of measuring the positionin the rotating direction or the rotation speed of the rotary drum DR,it is possible to reduce the error and to stably perform the detection.Accordingly, when the second driving part 36 is driven in the servo modeby the controller 14, it is possible to control the rotational positionof the rotary drum DR with higher accuracy.

When the rotational position and the rotation speed of the first drummember 21 are controlled in a servo mode using the first driving part 26on the basis of the measurement signal corresponding to the rotationalposition or the rotation speed of the first drum member 21 (thecylindrical mask DM) detected by the first detector 25, it is possibleto synchronously move (synchronously rotate) the first drum member 21and the rotary drum DR (the second drum member) with high accuracy.

Modification Example of Seventh Embodiment

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the position of the reading device when thescale disk SD is viewed from the direction of the rotation center lineAX2 according to a modification example of the seventh embodiment. Theobservation direction AM2 of the alignment microscope AM2 is arranged onthe rear side in the conveyance direction of the substrate P, that is,on the preceding side (the upstream side) of the exposure position(projection area), detects an image of alignment marks (which are formedin an area of several tens of μm square to several hundreds of μmsquare) formed in the vicinity of ends in the Y-axis direction of thesubstrate P at a high speed by the use of an imaging device or the likein a state where the substrate P is conveyed at a predetermined speed,and samples the images of the marks in a microscope field (imagingrange) at a high speed. By storing the rotation angle position of thescale disk SD which is sequentially measured by the encoder head EN5 atthe instant of sampling, the correspondence between the mark position onthe substrate P and the rotation angle position of the rotary drum DR iscalculated.

On the other hand, the observation direction AM1 of the alignmentmicroscope AMG1 is arranged on the front side in the conveyancedirection of the substrate P, that is, on the subsequent side (thedownstream side) of the exposure position (projection area), and samplesan image of alignment marks (which are formed in an area of several tensof μm square to several hundreds of μm square) formed in the vicinity ofends in the Y-axis direction of the substrate P at a high speed by theuse of an imaging device or the like similarly to the alignmentmicroscope AMG2. By storing the rotation angle position of the scaledisk SD which is sequentially measured by the encoder head EN4 at theinstant of sampling, the correspondence between the mark position on thesubstrate P and the rotation angle of the rotary drum DR is calculated.

The encoder head EN4 is set in the installation azimuth line Le4, whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le1 of the encoderhead EN1 substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX2 towardthe front side in the conveyance direction of the substrate P. Theencoder head EN5 is set in the installation azimuth line Le5, which isobtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le2 of the encoderhead EN2 substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX2 to therear side in the conveyance direction of the substrate P.

The encoder head EN3 is arranged on the opposite side of the rotationcenter line AX2 to the encoder heads EN1 and EN2, and the installationazimuth line Le3 thereof is set on the center plane P3.

As shown in FIG. 27, the encoder head EN4 is arranged in theinstallation azimuth line Le4 set in the radial direction of the scaleportion GP so as to be parallel to the observation direction AM1(directed to the rotation center line AX2) passing through the detectioncenter on the substrate P by the alignment microscope AMG1 when viewedin the XZ plane and from the direction of the rotation center line AX2.

The encoder head EN5 is arranged in the installation azimuth line Le5set in the radial direction of the scale portion GP so as to be parallelto the observation direction AM2 (directed to the rotation center lineAX2) passing through the detection center on the substrate P by thealignment microscope AMG2 when viewed in the XZ plane and from thedirection of the rotation center line AX2.

In this way, the detection probes of the alignment microscopes AMG1 andAMG2 are arranged around the rotary drum DR when viewed from thedirection of the second center line AX2, and are arranged so that thedirections (the installation azimuth lines Le4 and Le5) connecting thepositions at which the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 are arranged with thesecond center line AX2 match the directions connecting the detectionareas of the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 with the second centerline AX2.

The positions in the circumferential direction about the rotation centerline AX2 at which the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2 and theencoder heads EN4 and EN5 are set to be located between a sheetapproaching area IA in which the substrate P starts contacting therotary drum DR and a sheet separation area OA in which the substrate Pis separated from the rotary drum DR.

Eighth Embodiment

A processing apparatus according to an eighth embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 28 and 29. Inthe drawing, the same elements as in the seventh embodiment will begiven the same reference signs and a description thereof will not berepeated.

The rotary drum DR includes a reference mark-forming portion Rfp formedon the curved surface of the cylindrical surface. It is preferable tohave the reference mark-forming portion Rfp formed continuously ordiscretely at the same pitch as the alignment marks (which are formed inan area of several tens of μm square to several hundreds of μm square)are formed in the vicinity of the ends in the Y-axis direction of thesubstrate P. It is preferable that curve detecting probes GS1 and GS2configured to detect the reference mark-forming portion Rfp to have thesame configuration as the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2. The curvedetecting probes GS1 and GS2 detect an image at a high speed by the useof an imaging device or the like and sample an image of marks of thereference mark-forming portion Rfp in the microscope field (imagingrange) at a high speed. At the instant of sampling, the correspondencebetween the rotation angle position of the rotary drum DR and thereference mark-forming portion Rfp is obtained and the rotation angleposition of the rotary drum DR sequentially measured is stored.

The detection center AS1 of the curve detecting probe GS1 is in the samedirection as the detection center of the observation direction AM1(directed to the rotation center line AX2) by the alignment microscopeAMG1 when viewed in the XZ plane and from the direction of the rotationcenter line AX2. The detection center AS1 of the curve detecting probeGS1 is in the same direction as the installation azimuth line Le4 set tothe radial direction of the scale portion GP when viewed in the XZ planeand from the direction of the rotation center line AX2.

The detection center AS2 of the curve detecting probe GS2 is in the samedirection as the detection center of the observation direction AM2(directed to the rotation center line AX2) by the alignment microscopeAMG2 when viewed in the XZ plane and from the direction of the rotationcenter line AX2. The detection center AS2 of the curve detecting probeGS2 is in the same direction as the installation azimuth line Le5 set tothe radial direction of the scale portion GP when viewed in the XZ planeand from the direction of the rotation center line AX2.

In this way, the curve detecting probe GS1 is set in the installationazimuth line Le4, which is obtained by rotating the installation azimuthline Le1 of the encoder head EN1 substantially by 90° about the rotationcenter line AX2 to the rear side in the conveyance direction of thesubstrate P. The curve detecting probe GS2 is set in the installationazimuth line Le5, which is obtained by rotating the installation azimuthline Le2 of the encoder head EN2 substantially by 90° about the rotationcenter line AX2 to the rear side in the conveyance direction of thesubstrate P.

Since plurality of marks formed in the reference mark-forming portionRfp are arranged as reference marks at constant intervals in thecircumferential direction on the cylindrical outer circumferentialsurface of the rotary drum DR, it is possible to verify an arrangementerror of the detection probes GS1 and GS2 on the basis of measured readvalues by the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 at the time of sampling an imageof the reference marks by the use of the curve detecting probes GS1 andGS2 and the degree of displacement of the reference mark image in thesampled image from the detection center.

When a reference line pattern increasing in the Y-axis direction iscarved on the outer circumferential surface of the rotary drum DR, thearrangement error of the respective alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2may be calculated with respect to the coordinate system of the outercircumferential surface of the rotary drum DR specified on the basis ofthe measured read values of the encoder heads EN4 and EN5, by detectingthe reference line pattern by the use of the detection probes GS1 andGS2 and the alignment microscopes AMG1 and AMG2.

In FIG. 28, the diameter of the scale disk SD is shown to be smallerthan the diameter of the rotary drum DR. However, a so-calledmeasurement Abbe error can be further reduced by causing the diameter ofthe scale portion GP of the scale disk SD to match (to be almost equalto) the diameter of the outer circumferential surface around which thesubstrate P is wound in the outer circumferential surface of the rotarydrum DR. In this case, the exposure apparatus EXA preferably includes aroundness adjusting device configured to adjust the roundness of thescale disk SD.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing the roundness adjusting device configuredto adjust the roundness of the scale member.

The scale disk SD as the scale member is a ring-like member. The scaleportion GP is fixed to the ends of the rotary drum DR perpendicular tothe second center line AX2 of the rotary drum DR. In the scale disk SD,a groove Sc formed in the scale disk SD along the circumferentialdirection of the second center line AX2 is opposed to a groove Dc formedin the rotary drum DR with the same radius as the groove Sc along thecircumferential direction of the second center line AX2. In the scaledisk SD, a bearing member SB such as a ball bearing is interposedbetween the groove Sc and the groove Dc.

The roundness adjusting device CS is disposed on the inner circumferenceside of the scale disk SD and includes an adjustment portion 60 and apressing member PP. The roundness adjusting device CS includes pluralityof pressing mechanisms (60, PP, and the like), which can change apressing force, for example, in the radial direction directed from thesecond center line AX2 to the scale portion GP and parallel to theinstallation azimuth line Le4, at a plurality (for example, 8 to 16) ofpositions with a predetermined pitch in the circumferential directionabout the rotation center line AX2.

The adjustment portion 60 includes a male-threaded portion 61 screwed toa female-screwed portion FP4 of the rotary drum DR through a holeportion of the pressing member PP and a through-hole FP3 of the scaledisk SD and a screw head 62 coming in contact with the pressing memberPP. The pressing member PP is a ring-like fixed plate having a radiussmaller than the scale disk SD along the circumferential direction atthe ends of the scale disk SD.

An inclined surface FP2 in a cross-section located on the innercircumference side of the scale disk SD, parallel to the second centerline AX2, and including the second center line AX2 is formed at theextending tip of the installation azimuth line Le4 to the innercircumference side of the scale disk SD. The inclined surface FP2 is asurface having a truncated cone shape in a portion in which thethickness in the direction parallel to the second center line AX2decreases as it gets closer to the second center line AX2.

In a cross-section located on the inner circumference side of the scaledisk SD, parallel to the second center line AX2, and including thesecond center line AX2, the pressing member PP has a portion of atruncated cone shape in which the thickness in the direction parallel tothe second center line AX2 increases as it gets closer to the secondcenter line AX2. The inclined surface FP1 is a lateral surface of thetruncated cone shape. The pressing member PP is fixed to the scale diskSD by the adjustment portion 60 so as to cause the inclined surface FP2and the inclined surface FP1 to face each other.

In the roundness adjusting device CS, by screwing the male-threadedportion 61 of the adjustment portion 60 into the female-screwed portionFP3 of the scale disk SD to fasten the screw head 62, a pressing forceof the inclined surface FP1 of the pressing member PP is transmitted tothe inclined surface FP2 and the outer circumferential surface of thescale disk SD is elastically finely deformed to the outside. On thecontrary, by reversely rotating the screw head 62 to loosen themale-threaded portion 61, the pressing force applied from the inclinedsurface FP1 of the pressing member PP to the inclined surface FP2 isreduced and the outer circumferential surface of the scale disk SD iselastically finely deformed to the inside.

In the adjustment portions 60 arranged with a predetermined pitch in thecircumferential direction around the rotation center line AX2 in theroundness adjusting device CS, it is possible to finely adjust thediameter of the outer circumferential surface of the scale portion GP byoperating the screw head 62 (the male-threaded portion 61). Since theinclined surfaces FP1 and FP2 of the roundness adjusting device CS aredisposed inside the scale portion GP so as to allow the installationazimuth lines Le1 to Le5 to pass therethrough, the outer circumferentialsurface of the scale portion GP can be elastically finely deformed inthe radial direction uniformly with respect to the rotation center lineAX2.

Therefore, by operating the adjustment portion 60 at an appropriateposition depending on the roundness of the scale disk SD, it is possibleto raise the roundness of the scale portion GP of the scale disk SD orto reduce a fine eccentric error from the rotation center line AX2,thereby improving the position detection accuracy in the rotatingdirection with respect to the rotary drum DR.

The degree of adjustment of the radius adjusted by the roundnessadjusting device CS varies depending on the diameter or the material ofthe scale disk SD or the radial position of the adjustment portion 60and is several tens of μm at most.

The effect of suppressing the fine eccentric error which is achieved byadjustment using the roundness adjusting device CS can be verified bycomparison of differences between the measured read values of theplurality of encoder heads or the like.

Ninth Embodiment

A processing apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the inventionwill be described below with reference to FIG. 30. FIG. 30 is a diagramshowing a position of a reading device when the scale disk SD is viewedin the direction of the rotation center line AX2 according to the ninthembodiment. In FIG. 30, the diameter of the outer circumferentialsurface of the rotary drum DR and the diameter of the scale portion GPof the scale disk SD are matched with each other (to be substantiallyequal to each other). In the drawing, the same elements as in theseventh and eighth embodiments will be given the same reference signsand a description thereof will not be repeated.

As described above, in the exposure apparatus EXA, the principal rays oftwo image-forming light beams EL2 are made incident on the substrate P.Two positions at which the principal rays of the two image-forming lightbeams EL2 are made incident on the substrate P are set as a firstspecific position PX1 and a second specific position PX2.

The encoder head EN6 is disposed between the first specific position PX1and the second specific position PX2. For example, the encoder head EN6detects a position PX6 of the scale portion GP at the specific positioncorresponding to the center plane P3. Then encoder head EN6 is disposedin the installation azimuth line Le6 matching the center plane P3 whenviewed from the second center line AX2.

In this embodiment, since the diameter of the outer circumferentialsurface around which the substrate P is wound in the outercircumferential surface (the curved surface of the cylindrical surface)of the rotary drum DR is matched with the diameter of the scale portionGP of the scale disk SD, the position PX6 matches the specific position(hereinafter, reference to as specific position PX) when viewed from thedirection of the second center line AX2. The specific position PX6 islocated at the center in the X-axis direction of the areas (projectionareas PA1 to PA6) exposed by the plurality of projection modules PL1 toPL6.

The encoder head EN4 is set in the installation azimuth line Le4, whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le6 of the encoderhead EN6 substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX2 towardthe rear side in the conveyance direction of the substrate P.

In this embodiment, the angle interval between the installation azimuthline Le4 of the encoder head EN4 corresponding to the alignmentmicroscope AMG1 and the installation azimuth line Le5 of the encoderhead EN5 corresponding to the alignment microscope AMG2 is set to anangle θ (for example, 15°).

For example, when the first reading device is the encoder head EN4 andthe second reading device is the encoder head EN6, the controller 14 canperform a correction process as in the process flow shown in FIG. 25.For example, the controller 14 gives the input of the reading output ofthe encoder head EN4 as the first reading device to the database storedin the storage part of the controller 14 and calculates the displacementangle α. The controller 14 calculates the displacement component Δqx1from the calculated displacement angle α, and calculates the correctionvalue for correcting the focused state of the projection image on thebasis of the displacement component Δqx1.

In the exposure apparatus EXA according to this embodiment, the specificposition PX6 is the center in the X-axis direction of theaveragely-exposed area of the substrate P located on the curved surfaceof the rotary drum DR. The exposure apparatus EXA can reduce thecorrection process by, for example, finely adjusting the focused stateby performing the irradiation process of irradiating the specificposition PX6 with optimal exposing light.

The exposure apparatus EXA can suppress the calculation load, determinethe position of the rotary drum DR (the cylindrical member) with highaccuracy, and process an object, that is, the substrate P, located onthe curved surface of the rotary drum DR. Accordingly, the exposureapparatus EXA can perform an exposure process on the substrate P at ahigh speed and with high accuracy.

As described above, the exposure apparatus EXA includes the rotary drumDR as the cylindrical member, the scale portion GP, the projectionmodules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part of the exposure apparatus EXA,the encoder head EN4 as the first reading device reading the scaleportion GP, the encoder head EN6 as the second reading device readingthe scale portion GP, and the encoder head EN3 as the third readingdevice that is disposed at a position in the circumferential directiondifferent from the first reading device and the second reading deviceand that reads the scale portion GP.

The exposure apparatus EXA calculates the second center line AX2 of therotary drum DR from the reading outputs of the scale portion GP measuredby the encoder head EN4 as the first reading device, the encoder headEN6 as the second reading device, and the encoder head EN3 as the thirdreading device.

The projection modules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part performs aprocess of correcting the displacement when the second center line AX2of the rotary drum DR moves in the direction perpendicular to the secondcenter line AX2 using the reading outputs of the encoder head EN4 as thefirst reading device.

Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA according to this embodiment cansuppress the calculation load, detect the position of the rotary drum DR(the cylindrical member) with high accuracy, and process an object, thatis, the substrate P, located on the curved surface of the rotary drumDR.

In the arrangement of the encoder heads shown in FIG. 23, the finemovement component due to the eccentricity of the scale portion GP andthe displacement component due to the rotation may not bedistinguishably understood well, but the distinguishable understandingcan be easily achieved by employing the arrangement of the encoder headsshown in FIG. 30. Therefore, attention is paid to three encoder heads ofthe encoder head EN6 in FIG. 30, the encoder head EN4 separatedsubstantially by 90° therefrom and the encoder head EN3 (separated by180° from the encoder head EN6) further separated by 90° therefrom.

In this case, when the measured read value of the encoder head EN6 isMe6 and the measured read value of the encoder head EN3 is Me3, the finemovement component ΔXd in the X-axis direction due to the eccentricityof the scale disk SD (the scale portion GP) is calculated by Expression(1) and the displacement component ΔRp due to the rotation of the scaleportion GP is calculated as an average value by Expression (2).ΔXd=(Me6−Me3)/2  (1)ΔRp=(Me6+Me3)/2  (2)

Therefore, when the measured read value of the encoder head EN4 is Me4and the read value Me4 is sequentially compared with the displacementcomponent ΔRp (a difference therebetween is sequentially calculated), itis possible to calculate the fine movement component ΔZd in the Z-axisdirection of the scale disk SD (the rotary drum DR) due to theeccentricity in real time in FIG. 30.

Modification Example of Ninth Embodiment

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a position of a reading device when thescale disk SD is viewed in the direction of the rotation center line AX2according to a modification example of the ninth embodiment. As shown inFIG. 31, the encoder head EN6 may be omitted. The encoder head EN4 isset in the installation azimuth line Le4 which is obtained by rotating aline in the XZ plane connecting the specific position and the rotationcenter line AX2 substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX2toward the rear side in the conveyance direction of the substrate P.

Here, only the alignment microscope AMG1 is arranged in the same azimuthas the installation azimuth line Le4 of the encoder head EN4.

The encoder head EN5 is set in the installation azimuth line Le5 whichis obtained by rotating the line in the XZ plane connecting the specificposition and the rotation center line AX2 substantially by 90° about therotation center line AX2 toward the front side (downstream side) in theconveyance direction of the substrate P. In this case, the controller 14of the exposure apparatus EXA sets the first reading device to theencoder head EN4 or the encoder head EN5, sets the second reading deviceand the third reading device to two of the group consisting of theencoder head EN1, the encoder head EN2, and the encoder head EN3.

The exposure apparatus EXA can reduce the correction process such asfinely adjusting the focused state by performing the irradiation processof irradiating the center in the X-axis direction in theaveragely-exposed area of the substrate P located on the curved surfaceof the rotary drum DR with the optimal exposing light. Accordingly, theexposure apparatus EXA can performs an exposure process on the substrateP at a high speed and with high accuracy.

In the arrangement of the encoder heads shown in FIG. 31, the finemovement component due to the eccentricity of the scale portion GP andthe displacement component due to the rotation can be distinguishablyunderstood well. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 31, the fine movementcomponent ΔZd in the Z-axis direction of the scale disk SD (the rotarydrum DR) due to the eccentricity is calculated by Expression (3) usingthe measured read values Me4 and Me5 of two encoder heads EN4 and EN5reading the scales of the scale portion GP in the Z-axis direction.ΔZd=(Me4−Me5)/2  (3)

When the difference between the displacement component ΔRp due to therotation of the scale portion GP which is calculated as an average valueof the measured read values Me4 and Me5 of the encoder heads EN4 and EN5and the measured read value Me3 of the encoder head EN3 obtained byreading the scales of the scale portion GP in the X-axis direction issequentially calculated, the fine movement component ΔXd in the X-axisdirection of the scale disk SD (the rotary drum DR) due to theeccentricity is calculated in real time. The displacement component ΔRpis calculated by Expression (4).ΔRp=(Me4+Me5)/2  (4)

As described above, the exposure apparatus EXA includes the rotary drumDR as the cylindrical member, the scale portion GP, the projectionmodules PL1 to PL6 as the processing part of the exposure apparatus EXA,the encoder heads EN4 and EN5 as the first reading device reading thescale portion GP, the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 as the second readingdevice reading the scale portion GP, and the encoder head EN3 as thethird reading device that is disposed at a position in thecircumferential direction different from the first reading device andthe second reading device and that reads the scale portion GP.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 31, since the fine movement componentΔZd in the Z-axis direction of the rotary drum DR can be sequentiallycalculated on the basis of the measured read values of two encoder headsEN4 and EN5 arranged with an angle difference of 180° therebetween, thefocus variation ΔZf of the substrate P can be easily calculated byExpression (5).ΔZf=ΔZd×cos θ  (5)

The exposure apparatus EXA can suppress the calculation load, detect theposition of the rotary drum DR (the cylindrical member) with highaccuracy, and process an object, that is, the substrate P, located onthe curved surface of the rotary drum DR.

Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA can perform an exposure processon the substrate P at a high speed and with high accuracy.

Tenth Embodiment

A processing apparatus according to a tenth embodiment of the inventionwill be described below with reference to FIGS. 32 and 33. FIG. 32 is adiagram schematically showing an entire configuration of a processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a tenth embodiment. FIG. 33is a diagram showing a position of a reading device when a scale disk SDis viewed in the direction of the rotation center line AX1 according tothe tenth embodiment. In the drawing, the same elements as in theseventh, eighth, and ninth embodiments will be given the same referencesigns and a description thereof will not be repeated.

The scale disk SD is fixed to be perpendicular to the rotation centeraxes AX1 and AX2 at both ends of the first drum member 21 and the rotarydrum DR. The scale portion GP is located at both ends of the rotary drumDR and the encoder heads EN1 to EN5 configured to measure the scaleportions GP are arranged at both ends of the rotary drum DR.

The first detector 25 shown in FIG. 17 optically detects the rotationalposition of the first drum member 21 and includes a scale disk (thescale member) SD with high roundness and encoder heads EH1, EH2, EH3,EH4, and EH5 as reading devices, as shown in FIG. 33.

The scale disk SD is fixed to at least one end (both ends in FIG. 32) ofthe first drum member 21 to be perpendicular to the rotation shaft ofthe first drum member 21. Accordingly, the scale disk SD rotates aboutthe rotation center line AX1 along with the rotation shaft ST. A scaleportion GPM is carved on the outer circumferential surface of the scaledisk SD. The encoder heads EH1, EH2, EH3, EH4, and EH5 are arrangedaround the scale portion GP when viewed from the direction of therotation shaft STM. The encoder heads EH1, EH2, EH3, EH4, and EH5 arearranged to face the scale portion GPM and can read the scale portionGPM in a non-contacting manner. The encoder heads EH1, EH2, EH3, EH4,and EH5 are arranged at different positions in the circumferentialdirection of the first drum member 21.

The encoder heads EH1, EH2, EH3, EH4, and EH5 are reading devices havingmeasurement sensitivity (detection sensitivity) to a variation indisplacement in the tangential direction (in the XZ plane) of the scaleportion GPM. As shown in FIG. 33, when the installation azimuths (angledirections in the XZ plane about the rotation center line AX1) of theencoder heads EH1 and EH2 are denoted by installation azimuth lines Le11and Le12, the encoder heads EH1 and EH2 are arranged so that theinstallation azimuth lines Le11 and Le12 are ±θ° with respect to thecenter plane P3. The installation azimuth lines Le11 and Le12 are equalto the angle directions in the XZ plane about the rotation center lineAX1 of the illumination light beam EL1 shown in FIG. 17.

The illumination mechanism IU as a processing part irradiates apredetermined pattern (mask pattern) on the cylindrical mask DM with theillumination light beam EL1. Accordingly, the projection optical systemPL can project an image of the pattern in the illumination area IR onthe cylindrical mask DM to a part (projection area PA) of the substrateP conveyed by the conveying device 9.

The encoder head EH4 is set in the installation azimuth line Le14 whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le11 of theencoder head EH1 substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX1toward the rear side (upstream side) in the rotating direction withrespect to the center plane P3 of the first drum member 21.

The encoder head EH5 is set in the installation azimuth line Le15 whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le12 of theencoder head EH2 substantially by 90° about the rotation center line AX1toward the rear side (upstream side) in the rotating direction withrespect to the center plane P3 of the first drum member 21.

Here, substantially 90° means that the angle γ in 90°±γ is in a range of0°≤γ≤5.8°, as described in the seventh embodiment.

The encoder head EH3 is set in the installation azimuth line Le13 whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le12 of theencoder head EH2 substantially by 120° about the rotation center lineAX1 and rotating the encoder head EH4 substantially by 120° about therotation center line AX1.

The arrangement of the encoder heads EH1, EH2, EH3, EH4, and EH5 aroundthe first drum member 21 in this embodiment has an inverted mirror imagerelationship with the encoder heads EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, and EN5 arrangedaround the rotary drum DR in the seventh embodiment.

As described above, the exposure apparatus EXA includes the first drummember 21 as the cylindrical member, the scale portion GPM, theillumination mechanism IU as the processing part of the exposureapparatus EXA, the encoder heads EH4 and EH5 as the first reading devicereading the scale portion GPM, and the encoder heads EH1 and EH2 as thesecond reading device reading the scale portion GPM.

The first drum member 21 has a curved surface curved with a constantradius from the first center line AX1 as a predetermined axis androtates about the first center line AX1.

The scale portion GPM is arranged in a ring shape along thecircumferential direction in which the first drum member 21 rotates androtates about the first center line AX1 along with the first drum member21.

The illumination mechanism IU as the processing parts of the exposureapparatus EXA is arranged in the first drum member 21 when viewed fromthe direction of the second center line AX2, and irradiates the maskpattern located on the curved surface at the specific position in thecircumferential direction of the first drum member 21 with twoillumination light beams EL1.

The encoder heads EH4 and EH5 are arranged around the scale portion GPMwhen viewed from the direction of the first center line AX1, and aredisposed at the positions obtained by rotating the specific positionsubstantially by 90° about the first center line AX1 with respect to thefirst center line AX1, and read the scale portion GPM.

The encoder heads EH1 and EH2 read the scale portion GPM at the specificposition.

The exposure apparatus EXA performs a process of correcting thedisplacement when the illumination mechanism IU as the processing partmoves in the direction, in which the rotation shaft STM of the firstdrum member 21 moves, perpendicular to the first center line AX1 usingthe reading outputs of the encoder heads EH4 and EH5 as the firstreading device.

Accordingly, the exposure apparatus EXA according to this embodiment cansuppress the calculation load, detect the position of the first drummember 21 (the cylindrical member) with high accuracy, and perform aprocess (irradiation with the illumination light) on an object, that is,the cylindrical mask DM, located on the curved surface of the first drummember 21.

The exposure apparatus EXA may calculate the fine movement component inthe XZ plane of the rotation shaft STM of the first drum member 21 fromthe reading outputs of the scale portion GPM measured by the encoderheads EH4 and EH5 as the first reading device, the encoder heads EH1 andEH2 as the second reading device, and the encoder head EH3 as the thirdreading device.

Eleventh Embodiment

A processing apparatus according to an eleventh embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 34. FIG. 34 isa diagram schematically showing an entire configuration of a processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) according to an eleventh embodiment. Inthe exposure apparatus EX2, a light source device (not shown) emits anillumination light beam EL1 illuminating the cylindrical mask DM.

The illumination light beam EL1 emitted from the light source of thelight source device is guided to an illumination module IL. Whenplurality of illumination optical systems are provided, the illuminationlight beam EL1 from the light source is divided into plurality of piecesand the plurality of pieces of illumination light beam EL1 are guidedinto the plurality of illumination modules IL.

Here, the illumination light beam EL1 emitted from the light sourcedevice is made incident on a polarizing beam splitter SP1 and SP2. It ispreferable that the polarizing beam splitters SP1 and SP2 convert theincident illumination light beam EL1 into a totally-reflected light beamfor the purpose of suppressing an energy loss due to the splitting ofthe illumination light beam EL1.

Here, the polarizing beam splitters SP1 and SP2 reflects a light beamwhich becomes a linearly-polarized light beam of S-polarized light andtransmits a light beam which becomes a linearly-polarized light beam ofP-polarized light. Accordingly, the light source device emits anillumination light beam EL1, which is the illumination light beam EL1made incident on the polarizing beam splitters SP1 and SP2 and convertedinto a linearly-polarized (S-polarized) light beam, to the first drummember 21. Accordingly, the light source device emits the illuminationlight beam EL1 having a wavelength and a phase.

The polarizing beam splitters SP1 and SP2 reflect the illumination lightbeam EL1 from the light source and transmit a projection light beam EL2reflected at the cylindrical mask DM. In other words, the illuminationlight beam EL1 from the illumination module IL is made incident as areflected light beam on the polarizing beam splitters SP1 and SP2, andthe projection light beam EL2 from the cylindrical mask DM is madeincident as a transmitting light beam on the polarizing beam splittersSP1 and SP2.

In this way, the illumination module IL as the processing part performsa process of reflecting the illumination light beam EL1 to apredetermined pattern (mask pattern) on the cylindrical mask DM which isan object to be processed. Accordingly, the projection optical system PLcan project an image of the pattern in the illumination area IR on thecylindrical mask DM to a part (projection area PA) of the substrate Pwhich is conveyed by the conveying device 9.

When a predetermined pattern (mask pattern) reflecting the illuminationlight beam EL1 is provided to the surface of the curved surface of thecylindrical mask DM, the above-mentioned reference mark-forming memberRfp may be formed on the curved surface along with the mask pattern.When the reference mark-forming portion Rfp is formed along with themask pattern, the reference mark-forming portion Rfp is formed with thesame accuracy as the mask pattern.

Accordingly, an image of the mark of the reference mark-forming portionRfp can be sampled at a high speed and with high accuracy by the use ofthe curve detection probes GS1 and GS2 for detecting the referencemark-forming portion Rfp. By measuring the rotation angle position ofthe first drum member 21 by the use of the encoder head at the instantof sampling, the correspondence between the reference mark-formingportion Rfp and the rotation angle position of the first drum member 21which is sequentially measured is calculated.

Twelfth Embodiment

A processing apparatus according to a twelfth embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 35. FIG. 35 isa diagram schematically showing an entire configuration of a processingapparatus (exposure apparatus EX3) according to a twelfth embodiment.The exposure apparatus EX3 includes polygon scanning units PO1 and PO2which are supplied with a laser beam from a light source device (notshown). The polygon scanning unit PO one-dimensionally scans thesubstrate P with a spot light beam of a drawing laser beam. ByON/OFF-modulating the laser beam at a high speed on the basis of patterndata (CAD data) while one-dimensionally scanning the substrate with thespot light beam, an electronic circuit pattern or the like is drawn(exposed) on the substrate P.

An example of a partial configuration of an exposure head part (forexample, including six polygon scanning units PO1 to PO6) and a rotarydrum DR of the exposure apparatus EX3 shown in FIG. 35 will be describedbelow with reference to the perspective view of FIG. 36. The scale plateSD in which the scale portion GP having a diameter substantially equalto that of the outer circumferential surface of the rotary drum DR isformed is fixed to both ends in the Y-axis direction of the rotary drumDR to be coaxial with the rotation center line AX2. The six polygonscanning units PO1 to PO6 are arranged so that the scanning lines T1 toT6 of the spot beams (with a diameter of about 2 μm to 10 μm) formed onthe substrate P by the scanning units PO1 to PO6 extend in the Y-axisdirection to be parallel to each other.

Similarly to the above-mentioned embodiments, a pattern area drawn onthe substrate P by the odd-numbered scanning lines T1, T3, and T5 and apattern area drawn on the substrate P by the even-numbered scanninglines T2, T4, and T6 join without being separated from each other in theY-axis direction and form a large pattern area with a balance in thewidth direction of the substrate P.

When a surface including the installation azimuth line Le1 of theencoder head EN1 disposed around both scale plates SD and the rotationcenter line AX2 of the rotary drum DR is assumed, the odd-numberedscanning lines T1, T3, and T5 are set to be included in the surface.Similarly, when a surface including the installation azimuth line Le2 ofthe encoder head EN2 disposed around both scale plates SD and therotation center line AX2 is assumed, the even-numbered scanning linesT2, T4, and T6 are set to be included in the surface.

The six scanning units PO1 to PO6 have the same configuration and thusthe internal configuration of the scanning unit PO3 will be describedrepresentatively. As shown in FIG. 36, a laser beam LB of an ultravioletband supplied from a light source device not shown is made incident onan acousto-optic modulator (AOM) MP1 that ON/OFF-modulates (modulatesthe intensity of) a beam at a high speed on the basis of pattern data(CAD data) while a spot light beam scans the scanning line T3. The beamfrom the acousto-optic modulator MP1 is deflected and scanned in the XYplane in one dimensional by a polygon mirror MP2 rotating about arotation center parallel to the Z-axis at a high speed. The deflectedbeam is collected as a spot light beam on the substrate P via an f-θlens MP3 and a turn-back mirror MP4 and the spot light beam scans alongthe scanning line T3 in one direction at a constant speed.

Each of the other scanning units PO1, PO2, PO4, PO5, and PO6 includes anacousto-optic modulator MP1, a polygon mirror MP2, an f-θ lens MP3, anda turn-back mirror MP4. At the time of drawing a pattern on thesubstrate P, the synchronization of the scanning speed of the spot lightbeams on the scanning lines T1 to T6 with the conveyance speed (therotation speed of the rotary drum DR) of the substrate P, the timing oftransmitting CAD data of patterns to be drawn at the scanning lines T1to T6 to the acousto-optic modulators MP1, and the like are controlledby the controller 14 shown in FIG. 35 on the basis of the position inthe circumferential direction of the rotary drum DR (the substrate P)measured by the encoder heads EN1 and EN2 (or the other encoder headsEN3 to EN5).

In this way, the exposure apparatus EX3 shown in FIGS. 35 and 36 canperform a patterning process by irradiating the substrate P at aspecific position with an exposure light beam (spot light beam) withoutusing the cylindrical mask DM. The above-mentioned embodiments can besimilarly applied to the case where the substrate P wound around therotary drum DR is exposed to a pattern using an apparatus configured toperform a projection exposure process using a variable mask pattern, forexample, a maskless exposure apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No.4223036.

As shown in FIG. 36, the scale plate SD is attached to both ends of therotary drum DR and is similarly applied to the apparatuses of the otherembodiments. In case of an optical encoder system in which diffractiongrids are formed as the scale portion GP (or GPM) with a constant pitch(for example, 20 μm) in the circumferential direction, the encoder headsEN1 to EN5 (or EH1 to EH5) obliquely irradiate the scale portion GP (orGPM) with a measurement beam and photo-electrically detect the reflectedand diffracted beam (interference light beam) thereof and theinstallation azimuth lines Le to Le5 (or Le11 to Le15) of the encoderheads EN1 to EN5 (or EH1 to EH5) are set to pass through the irradiationarea (in a range of 1 mm to several mm) of the measurement beam on thescale portion GP (or GPM).

FIG. 37 is a perspective view schematically showing the internalconfiguration of the encoder head EN1 and an arrangement relationshipwith the scale portion GP. FIG. 37, the encoder head EN1 is providedwith a light source 500 such as a semiconductor laser or alight-emitting diode projecting a measurement beam Be, a collection lens501 configured to collimate the measurement beam Be as a substantiallyparallel beam, an index grid 502 configured to receive the reflecteddiffracted beam Br reflected from the irradiation area Ab on the scaleportion GP which is irradiated with the measurement beam Be, and aphotoelectric sensor 503 configured to receive a re-diffracted beam(interference beam) generated from the index grid 502.

The above-described installation azimuth line Le1 of the encoder headEN1 is set to pass the irradiation area Ab and to travel to the rotationcenter line AX2 of the scale plate SD. The encoder head EN1 is providedso that the center line of the measurement beam Be and the center lineof the reflected diffracted beam Br are located in a plane including theinstallation azimuth line Le1 and the rotation center line AX2 (forexample, see FIG. 36) perpendicular to each other. The configurationsand the arrangements of the encoder heads described in theabove-mentioned embodiments are the same as shown in FIG. 37.

Thirteenth Embodiment

A processing apparatus according to a thirteenth embodiment of theinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 38. FIG. 38 isa diagram schematically showing an entire configuration of a processingapparatus (exposure apparatus) according to a thirteenth embodiment.

An exposure apparatus EX4 is a processing apparatus that performsso-called proximity exposure on a substrate P. The exposure apparatusEX4 sets a gap between the cylindrical mask DM and the rotary drum DR tobe small, causes the illumination mechanism IU to directly irradiate thesubstrate P with an illumination light beam EL to expose the substratein a non-contacting manner.

In this embodiment, the rotary drum DR rotates with a torque suppliedfrom the second driving part 36 including an actuator such as anelectric motor. For example, a driving roller MGG connected to amagnetic gear drives the first drum member 21 so as to be opposite tothe rotating direction of the second driving part 36.

The second driving part 36 rotates the rotary drum DR, and thus, thedriving roller MGG and the first drum member 21 rotates in conjunctionwith each other. As a result, the first drum member 21 (the cylindricalmask DM) and the rotary drum DR synchronously move (synchronouslyrotate).

The exposure apparatus EX4 includes an encoder head EN6 configured todetect the position PX6 of the scale portion GP at a specific positionat which the principal ray of the image-forming light beam EL withrespect to the substrate P is made incident on the substrate P. Here,since the diameter of the outer circumferential surface around which thesubstrate P is wound in the outer circumferential surface of the rotarydrum DR is matched with the diameter of the scale portion GP of thescale disk SD, the position PX6 matches the specific position whenviewed from the direction of the second center line AX2.

The encoder head EN7 is set in the installation azimuth line Le7, whichis obtained by rotating the installation azimuth line Le6 of the encoderhead EN6 substantially by 90° (90°±γ) about the rotation center line AX2to the rear side (upstream side) in the conveyance direction of thesubstrate P.

The exposure apparatus EX4 according to this embodiment uses the encoderhead EN7 as the first reading device and the encoder head EN6 as thesecond reading device and can perform a process of correcting adisplacement component, which is calculated from the reading output ofthe scale portion GP, in the direction connecting the position of theshaft of the rotary drum DR with a specific position and perpendicularto the shaft, by using the reading output from the first reading device.

The seventh to ninth embodiments exemplify an exposure apparatus as theprocessing apparatus. The processing apparatus is not limited to theexposure apparatus and may be an apparatus in which a processing partprints a pattern on a substrate P as an object to be process by the useof an ink-jet ink dropping device. Alternatively, the processing partmay be an inspection apparatus. The transfer processing part may be anoptical patterning unit configured to irradiate a sheet substrate withlight in a shape corresponding to a pattern or an ink coating unitconfigured to eject ink droplets in a shape corresponding to a pattern.

<Device Manufacturing Method>

A device manufacturing method will be described below with reference toFIG. 39. FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing a device manufacturing methodaccording to the sixth embodiment and showing the device manufacturingmethod, for example, using the processing apparatus (exposure apparatus)according to the sixth embodiment.

In the device manufacturing method shown in FIG. 39, first, functionsand performance of a display panel using a light-emitting device such asorganic EL device are designed, and necessary circuit pattern orinterconnection patterns are designed with a CAD or the like (stepS201). Subsequently, cylindrical masks DM corresponding to the number ofnecessary layers are manufactured on the basis of patterns of variouslayers designed by the CAD or the like (step S202). A feed roll FR1around which a flexible substrate P (such as a resin film, a metal foil,or a plastic) serving as a base member of the display panel is prepared(step S203).

The roll-like substrate P prepared in step S203 may have a front surfacereformed and activated in advance, may have a base layer (for example,fine unevenness using an imprinting method) formed in advance thereon,or may have a photosensitive functional film or a transparent film(insulating material) laminated in advance.

Subsequently, a backplane layer including electrodes, interconnections,insulating films, TFTs (thin-film semiconductor) and the likeconstituting the display panel is formed on the substrate P and alight-emitting layer (display pixel portions) based on a light-emittingdevice such as an organic EL device is formed to be stacked on thebackplane layer (step S204). Step S204 includes a conventionalphotolithography step of exposing a photo-resist layer using theexposure apparatus EXA, EX2, EX3, or EX4 described in theabove-mentioned embodiments. The step also includes processes of anexposure step of exposing the substrate P coated with a photosensitivesilane coupling material instead of the photo resist to patterns to formthe patterns based on hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties on thesurface thereof, a wet step of exposing a photosensitive catalyst layerto patterns to form patterns of a metal film (interconnections,electrodes, and the like) using an electroless plating method, or aprinting step of drawing patterns using conductive ink or the likecontaining silver nano-particles.

Subsequently, the substrate P is diced into display panel devices whichare continuously manufactured on the long substrate P in a roll manneror a protective film (an environment barrier layer), a color filtersheet, or the like is attached to the surface of the respective displaypanel devices, whereby devices are assembled (step S205). Subsequently,an inspection step of inspecting whether the display panel devicesnormally work or whether a desired performance or characteristic issatisfied is performed (step S206). In this way, it is possible tomanufacture display panels (flexible displays).

The requirements of the above-mentioned embodiments and theabove-mentioned modification examples can be appropriately combined.Some elements may not be used. As long as permitted by law, allapplication publications, patent publications, and US patents relevantto the exposure apparatuses cited in the above-mentioned embodiments andthe above-mentioned modification examples are incorporated herein byreference.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   9: conveying device    -   11: processing apparatus    -   12: mask supporting device    -   13: light source device    -   14: controller    -   21: first drum member    -   23: guide roller    -   24: driving roller    -   25: first detector    -   26: first driving part    -   31: guide member    -   31: solid light source    -   33: second guiding member    -   35: detector    -   44: focus correcting optical member (focus adjusting device)    -   45: image shift correcting optical member    -   46: rotation correcting mechanism (shift adjusting device)    -   47: magnification correcting optical member    -   62: head part    -   AX2: rotation center line (center line)    -   AM1, AM2: observation direction    -   AMG1, AMG2: alignment microscope (alignment system)    -   GS1, GS2: curve detecting probe    -   GP: scale portion    -   CS: roundness adjusting device    -   DM: cylindrical mask    -   DR: rotary drum (rotary cylindrical member, rotary cylindrical        body, second drum member)    -   EN1, EN2: encoder head, encoder head part (reading mechanism)    -   EN3: encoder head, encoder head part (third reading mechanism)    -   EN4, EN5, EN6, EN7, EH1, EH2, EH3, EH4, EH5: encoder head,        encoder head part (reading mechanism)    -   EX, EXA, EX2, EX3, EX4: exposure apparatus (processing        mechanism, processing apparatus)    -   P: substrate    -   P2: second surface (supporting surface)    -   PO: polygon scanning unit    -   PP: pressing member    -   SA: speed measuring device    -   SD: scale disk (scale member, disk-like member)    -   U3: processing apparatus (substrate processing apparatus)

The invention claimed is:
 1. A pattern forming apparatus that forms apattern on a long sheet substrate while a rotary drum transfers thesheet substrate in a length direction of the sheet substrate by rotatingabout a predetermined center line, the rotary drum being configured towound a part of the sheet substrate in the length direction around acylindrical outer circumferential surface thereof which is curved at aconstant radius from the predetermined center line, the pattern formingapparatus comprising: a scale portion that includes a scale for anencoder measurement and that is configured to rotate about the centerline together with the rotary drum, the scale being formed in a circularshape at a position which is predetermined radius from the center line,a first pattern forming part that forms a pattern on the sheet substrateat a first specific position, the first specific position being aposition in a circumferential direction which is within a range in whichthe sheet substrate is wound around among the outer circumferentialsurface of the rotary drum, a second pattern forming part that forms apattern on the sheet substrate at a second specific position, the secondspecific position being a position which is within a range in which thesheet substrate is wound around among the outer circumferential surfaceof the rotary drum and which is separated from the first specificposition in the circumferential direction for a predetermined angle, anda first encoder head that is arranged at a substantially same azimuth asan intermediate position of the first and second specific positions inthe circumferential direction when viewed from the center line so as tooppose with the scale portion in order to measure a rotation angleposition of the rotation drum and that reads the scale of the scaleportion.
 2. The pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, providedthat the predetermined angle regarding the first and second specificpositions in the circumferential direction is 2θ°, wherein an angle fromthe intermediate position to the first specific position in thecircumferential direction is set to −θ° and an angle from theintermediate position to the second specific position in thecircumferential direction is set to +θ°.
 3. The pattern formingapparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a second encoderhead that reads the scale while opposing with the scale portion at anazimuth which is rotated substantially 180 degrees in thecircumferential direction from the intermediate position, and a thirdencoder head that reads the scale while opposing with the scale portionat an azimuth which is rotated substantially 90 degrees in thecircumferential direction from both of the azimuth of the first encoderhead and the azimuth of the second encoder head.
 4. The pattern formingapparatus according to claim 3, provided that a measured value of thescale read by the first encoder head is Me6, a measured value of thescale read by the second encoder head is Me3 and a measured value of thescale read by the third encoder head is Me4, wherein a fine movementcomponent ΔXd of the scale portion, which is due to eccentricity to asame direction as the azimuth of the second encoder head, is obtained bya calculation of (Me6−Me3)/2, and a displacement component DRp, which isdue to a rotation of the scale portion, is obtained by a calculation of(Me6+Me3)/2.
 5. The pattern forming apparatus according to claim 4,wherein a fine movement component ΔZd of the rotary drum, which relatesto a direction along a line connecting a reading position of the firstencoder head and a reading position of the third encoder head, isobtained by obtaining a difference between the measured value Me4 andthe displacement component ΔRp.